May, 2013 archive
Remember Those Who Fell . . .
and Those Who Were Pushed
2
Will Bunch shares his thoughts on Memorial Day and what it memorializes.
Read it.
There are wars of necessity–wars brought to you–and wars of cynicism–wars you take to others, such as the Great and Glorious Patriotic War for a Lie in Iraq.
We have had a few of the former and too many of the latter.
Those who create wars of cynicism are old men who watch from the comfort of their dens as others die.
They call others amongst the beat of the drums and the skirl of the pipes, while they smoke their cigars, drink their champagne, and collect their checks.
First Son has four times been in harm’s way for the folly of those old men, for he enlisted so as to be able to pay his student loans.
Enough already, enough wars for lies.
Facebook Frolics 0
Social media don’t make people stupid. But here in Florida they sure make stupid people stand out.
More frolicking Floridians at the link.
School for Scamdal 0
I’ve had this article bookmarked for some time as worthy of a link. That it’s been around a week or so doesn’t make it any less worthy.
In it, Mark Segal shares his thoughts about who did what regarding Benghazi.
A nugget:
Benghazigate: how Republicans allowed terrorists to kill four Americans. It’s true, after all, that Republicans know how to work with terrorists. President Ronald Reagan sold arms to terrorists, in what was then called “Contragate.”
Gee, that might make a good political slogan: “Help a terrorist, vote Republican.”
If you carefully consider facts (Facts! We don’t want no stinkin’ facts!), you will see that the Republican Party is a party of slogans, a sounding cymbal, a tinkling bell, signifying nothing, except a naked desire for plunder and power.
Candid-dates, TMI Dept. 0
Gina Barreca has some suggestions for candidates who walk the Appalachian Trail or twit on Twitter or both.
Point of Law and Order 0
Dan Amira reminds us (emphasis added):
Considering the (legally invalid) antics of Darrell Issa, such fears are likely justified.
Citations of case law at the link.
Sequestrian Dressage 0
In The Guardian, Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford look back from ten years later.
It ain’t a pretty sight.
It’s 2023 – this is America a decade years after the federal budget cuts known as sequestration. They went on for a decade, making no exception for effective programs that were already underfunded, like job training and infrastructure repairs. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Banksters in the Dock 0
More like this, please.
A Becoming Punishment 0
This seems to be a typical sentence from the coverage of the Boy Scouts of America’s recent policy change:
Most of the coverage has been framed in terms of “allowing gay boys.”
It’s a matter of emphasis, but an important one: It’s not about “allowing”; it’s about not persecuting.
Boys typically joined the Cub Scouts at eight or nine and the Boy Scouts at 11 or 12. At those ages, they are still pretty much asexual.
“Openly gay” boys did not join the scouts.
Boys matured into their sexuality after they are already scouts.
Then the Scouts persecuted them for who they became.
Listen Up 0
Currently listening to The Moonstone, widely considered to be the first true mystery novel in English.
