June, 2012 archive
Facebook Frolics 2
All ur status upd8tes r belongz to us:
According to the broadcaster, SCHUFA plans to use Google-like crawlers to scoop up information available on the sites. “The goal of the project is to analyze and research web data,” the agency said in a short statement on Thursday.
German politicians and citizens are not taking this quietly.
Germany has strict laws about internet privacy (remember the great Google street view fuss). Follow the link to Der Spiegel for a roundup of comments from all sides of the spectrum.
Lies and Lying Liars, Reprise 3
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I had a 2-S and was damned glad I did. I remember sophomore year sitting in a dark dorm room with several of my friends listening to the first modern draft lottery on the radio. We all wanted to know our numbers.
Mine was 349. I could relax for the first time since I registered (somewhere I still have my card).
No one wants to die for a lie, and that’s what the Vietnamese War was, a Great and Glorious Patriotic War for a Lie.
Not the first, certainly not the last, just another of many.
The old lie; the young die.
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Dick Polman rounds up Mitt the Flip’s latest whoppers. A nugget:
Follow the link for the rest.
QOTD 0
Robert Fulghum, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Above all, if what you’ve done is stupid, but it works, it ain’t stupid.
Circus, No Bread 0
Bob Molinaro, in the local rag:
’nuff said.
Peacock Alley 0
Peacocks terrorize Crisfield, Maryland.
But even though the birds are beautiful, they may be … well, bird-brained.
Phoebus said the male gets aggressive when he sees his own reflection.
“I’ve seen him fighting with the side of my car,” he said.
When I was growing up, my Great Uncle Henry Wise, whom everyone called “Brother Henry,” had some peacocks. They are thoroughly unpleasant companions.
Twits on Twitter 0
Twits at 37,000 feet.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up (and, since the internet is a public place, you don’t have to).
Stray Thought 0
Washing machines are installed. Art just is.
They Aren’t Even Trying To Hide It Anymore* 0
The Republican Southern Strategy continues apace.
These are not nice people.
Via Contradict Me, to whom I refer you for commentary.
_____________________
*Well, they are. They are trying to say that this is somehow not racist.
You Are What You Eat 0
And you are not very pretty.
Fresh Air considers what you eat. From the recap:
Chicken litter is exactly what it sounds like: a mix of chicken manure, dead chickens, feathers, and spilled feed that has been rendered down into a uniform substance and then marketed to the beef industry as cheap feed for cows.
“Obviously, it’s going to be cheaper than corn or soy or other things that they feed cows,” says Philpott. “So a rather significant amount of this stuff ends up being mixed into cow rations and fed to cows. … But chickens are fed various beef products [throughout their lives]. … And then what you’re getting is cows eating cow protein, which as Americans probably remember, is the source of the mad cow scares.”
Follow the link to read the rest of the story and the transcript or to listen to the audio.
If you can stomach it.
Dustbiters 0
The FDIC has awaken from its slumbers and is hungry. This evening, it has snacked on these:
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Carolina Federal Savings Bank, Charleston, South Carolina
First Capital Bank, Kingfisher, Oklahoma
I Get Mail, Area 51 Dept. 0
H/T Susan for the picture.
Love Me, Love My Dog 0
Chauncey Devega ruminates on a study that suggest racism runs even into the canine realm. A nugget:
Even presidential pets were viewed through the same lens. Tesler showed 1,000 YouGov respondents a picture of a Portuguese water dog and asked how favorably they felt toward it. Half saw the dog introduced as Bo Obama, and half as Ted Kennedy’s dog, Splash. (Both political dogs are the same breed, but the picture was of Obama’s.) Those with negative feelings toward blacks thought less of Obama’s dog.
I love dogs. Tesler’s finding that white racial resentment extends to Bo, a canine, is a sign of how damaging white racism is to those who afflicted with it. The social science suggests that the activation of white racial animus and hostility is a halo effect which extends to anyone associated with President Obama.
I understand the methodology and argument: But yet, I am still left asking how can you dislike a dog based only on his owner?
Racism runs deep in American history and consciousness (and unconsciousness), far deeper that most white folks are willing to acknowledge, let alone confront. Read the rest.
Aside:
That, in addition to the clear writing and sound scholarship, is one reason I’m so happy to have discovered Mr. Devega’s blog; it gives me a chance to look at me with a different mirror.
The Blob! It’s Alive! 0
This mass, which appeared overnight, has the romantic name of “dog vomit slime mold.” You can judge the size by the dead rhododendrum leaf in the upper right corner.
Despite its appearance, it’s actually dry and slightly fuzzy to touch, at least on the outside (I have no interest in doing an internal). According the Wikipedia, it can move, er, ooze in its quest for sustenance.
