March, 2013 archive
A Calvacade of Sporks 0
If you are depressed by the politicians in your state (I am constantly depressed by the lunacy here in the Regency), read Laurie’s list of the top ten kooks in the Arizona legislature.
From Ghosties and Ghoulies . . . 0
Dick Polman, in his roundup of “the week in crazy,” spots the presence of at least one ghost and several ghoulies. First, the ghost (emphasis in the original):
SEC. 8099. None of the funds made available under this Act may be distributed to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its subsidiaries.
. . . ACORN died in 2010.
Read the rest for the ghoulies.
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
Dan Simpson explores the impetus behind the Republican gut out the vote efforts under the camouflage of states’ rights* to establish voting requirements.
He finds it in a desire to roll back the clock to 1859 or so:
(snip)
Rich, white males aren’t stupid, and thus they are taking dead aim at cutting down the number of minorities who can vote and making life in general more difficult for women. They are doing so by taking advantage of the small, dark corners of this country they still control.
_____________________
*Remember, when someone says
. . . because states’ rights, that’s why!
ask
states’ rights to do what, exactly?
You won’t get a straight answer. You’ll get legalistic-sounding platitudes, but you won’t get a straight answer.
Dustbiter 0
A master of the universe no more: another Georgia bank sinks into a sea of red. Bank no more on
Susie Sampson Espies the Burning Bush . . . 0
. . . and sees that it is good.
Dry-Gulched 0
MarketWatch’s Eric Holthaus wonders whether the Dust Bowl is returning.
Consequences could be disastrous for farming and ranching communities across the Midwest — and lead to another spike in commodities prices should yields again suffer. . . .
The U.S. economy is still only starting to process last year’s drought. On the consumer side, recent government reports confirm that food prices have just begun to rise due to last year’s drought that — at its peak last September — covered nearly two-thirds of the country. Though hot weather and lack of rain caused futures prices for corn and soy to peak at new record highs last August, a lag in the country’s agroprocessing system means consumers — and therefore the broader economy — won’t feel the full brunt of higher supermarket prices for meat, dairy, and grains until later this year.
Much more at the link.
Here Comes the Sun . . . Stone 0
This is fascinating.
That’s because of a property known as birefringence, which splits light beams in a way that can reveal the direction of their source with a high degree of accuracy. Vikings may not have grasped the physics behind the phenomenon, but that wouldn’t present a problem.
“You don’t have to understand how it works,” said Albert Le Floch, of the University in Rennes in western France. “Using it is basically easy.”
Some persons are skeptical, with reason, given that the Vikings left little evidence of how they managed to navigate across wide stretches of the Atlantic.
Read the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Guarding politeness in schools:
You realize this won’t end the gun nuts’ gun fantasies.
The fetish is too overwhelming.
Via Bob Cesca.
No Show 0
Jack may have been all work and no play, but Jill was all pay and no work.
The story has been unfolding for two years now.
It’s one of the strangest bureaucratic mix-ups you can ever read about.
Now a scapegoat has been found–not an entirely blameless scapegoat, but, as far as I can tell, a scapegoat nonetheless. The events involved too many persons and went on far too long to affix the blame on one person only.
I still have a nagging feeling that there’s more to be uncovered.
Dulcet Tones 0
In which I discuss OTR on the WWW.
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
A case of Republican projection.
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