March, 2012 archive
Misdirection Plays, Hate Mail Dept. 0
Not to me. I don’t get noticed enough.
But Chauncey Devega got a gem, a literate and articulate attempt to justify bigotry by changing the subject. It’s a good example of how persons paper over hate with smooth-sounding rationales.
Aside:
Be sure also to read Devega’s column in the New York Daily News.
Portion Control 0
I have reached a point of disliking going to restaurants, especially the look-alike chain restaurants that seem to have taken over.
It’s not that I dislike socializing or good food; it’s that I dislike the waste. The plates arrive with enough stuff slopped on them to feed three persons, not just one. Quantity seems to have become the disguise for mediocrity.
Facebook Frolics 0
The San Jose Mercury-News passes on Facebook passwords:
(snip)
It’s really a case of employment law needing to catch up with the Internet age. Passwords give employers access to information they’re prohibited from asking about, from relationships to political views. The laws also should apply to schools and universities. They’d never demand to open a student’s paper mail.
Writing in my local rag, Mike Gruss sees a practical aspect to resquesting Facebook passwords: What the passwords themselves say about you:
The best Facebook lesson is the password itself, and I’m going to try to guess yours. If I don’t get it right, we move on to the next part of the interview.
But here’s the catch: If I guess your password, the day’s over. Thanks for playing. Buh-bye. Good luck at your next job because it’s not going to be here. Also, I start spamming all your friends to “like” Justin Bieber. Sorry. The truth hurts.
Facebook is naturally also against the idea. My cynical side says that, if persons started acting like grown-ups on Facebook, it would quickly become Fadebook.
QOTD 0
John F. Kennedy, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours.
Drinking Liberally Virginia Beach Tomorrow 0
Fun and fellowship for liberals. Join us.
When: Tuesday, March 27st, 6 p
Where:
Lubo Wine Tasting Room
1658 Pleasure House Road (Map)
More here.
Too Big To Jail? 0
Aside:
Being rich seems to be its own “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
Of course, it makes sense if you believe that wealth is a sure sign of virture.
QOTD 0
Wernher von Braun, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Crash programs fail because they are based on the theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby in a month.
“That Conversation about Race” 0
Today I was at a meeting with two other persons, both of whom happen to be not-white.
Both of them grew up in the place we Southern Boys refer to as “up North” (for reasons not needing to be stated, their forebears fled the South generations ago).
The conversation turned to Trayvon Martin.
They have no direct experience of Jim Crow. Not having lived it, they don’t really get it.
For some fool reason, they expect to be treated like real live human beings wherever they may happen to be. They didn’t get the message that the color of one’s skin changes everything.
I am damned glad that they didn’t get that message, and I damn that message.
That messages destroys good and celebrates evil.
I must stop now, for all I have left is profanity.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Soon to be replaced by the eviction-based economy:
But as a deal, this one is tilted to the banks.
That’s certainly the takeaway from the bank’s announcement Friday that it would offer borrowers a chance to turn over their homes to B. of A. in exchange for a deal where the bank would rent those properties to the former borrower. The rents naturally would be less than the previous mortgage payment. Read Wall Street Journal story on the program.
With the alternative of eviction, some troubled borrowers may find such a deal the best option in a bad situation.
QOTD 0
Hugh Downs:
I’ve always thought that the stereotype of the dirty old man is really the creation of a dirty young man who wants the field to himself.
Misdirection Plays 0
From Raw Story:
However, at least one person — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich — found it “disgraceful” and “appalling” that Obama was “trying to turn” the death of the African American teenager “into a racial issue.”
For Pete’s sake, how can it not be a racial issue?
Does anyone with an IQ greater than that of a can of tuna seriously believe that Zimmerman would have chased down and shot a white kid carrying a bag of skittles?
Give me a break.
Newtmentum 0
Dick Polman does a quick roundup. One of the items:
Follow the link for the rest.
