August, 2013 archive
When Quid Met Quo and Quo Said No 0
There’s a difference between corruption and cronyism, even though the two often come in a blend, like a toxic mai-tai. Corruption is about what you can get; cronyism is about who you know.
This looks more like the latter than the former, but it still signals an absence of good judgment. Good judgment goes out of the way to avoid offering a plum to someone to whom you are indebted.
Paul Davis told The Washington Post he has been friends with McDonnell for more than a decade. He said he believes the appointment offer was unrelated to the loan he gave MoBo Real Estate Partners in 2010.
The doctor turned down the post.
Details at the link.
Dustbiter 0
The masters of the universe continue to upend themselves. There’s one fewer bank tonight.
Shed no tears for
Espresso, Extra Glock 0
Just a shot away.
Cooch and the Cuckoos on the Couch 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Marty Klein tries to understand Cooch and the Cuckoos pervy fascination with what other folks do in their bedrooms.
He concludes that it’s all about politics: creating a monster to hate so as to rally the troops.
A nugget:
Politicians, religious leaders, and do-gooders use oral sex—and sodomy, non-monogamy, S/M, vibrator use, and other common erotic behaviors—as code for “those people aren’t like us,” even when “those people” ARE like us. In fact, they ARE us. But creating a dangerous, degenerate, out-of-control sexual “other” is such a dependable trope for motivating people, no political, religious, or civic leader can give it up. They are captivated by the power the trope gives them.
Follow the link for more.
Everybody Must Get Fracked . . . 0
. . . behind closed doors.
From Asia Times:
This revelation came only days after the Los Angeles Times reported that it had obtained a set of government-censored Powerpoint slides related to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency. The slides conclude that fracking was indeed polluting the aquifer in question.
Critics of the controversial extraction method note that these examples are part of an overall cover-up strategy being employed by the oil and gas industry.
What’s in Them Teabags? 0
White pekoe-woods with a delicate hint of Bircher bark, that’s what.
Chauncey Devega explains the brew.
Flying under the Weather 0
Chauncey Devega wonders, why is no one distressed by white-on-white crime?
He has a typically long, detailed, and tightly-reasoned answer, but, really, you know, it’s quite simple.
If it’s white-on-white crime, it’s colorblind crime, so the “white” part is irrelevant.
A Picture Is Worth 0
I used to pass the wind farm in Somerset County, Pa., several times a year.
Give me graceful wind machines over smoking stacks and cooling towers any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Picture via The GreemMiles, which adds commentary.
Football uber Alles 0
Daniel Ruth is not amused by the NFL’s recent purse prohibition. A nugget:
Follow the link. Later on, he waxes sarcastic. (No word on whether sarcastic waxes h–oh, never mind.)
Post-Racial 0
Indeed.
A manager at MCU Park noticed the defacement Wednesday morning. The words “Heil Hitler,” an expletive and racist epithets were scrawled on the statue in black marker. Workers later covered up the vandalism.
Sequestrian Dressage 0
It may be out of the headlines, but the dance continues.
I Expect that Nothing Will Come of This 0
The New York-based bank said in a regulatory filing that it is responding to investigations by the civil and criminal divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California. In May, the civil division informed JPMorgan that it had “preliminarily concluded” that the bank had violated federal securities laws in connection with certain mortgage-backed investments it sold from 2005 to 2007.
The banksters were selling bags of air, er, derivatives in a colossal Ponzi scheme fueled by the myth that “Flip this house; real estate prices will never go down, because God ain’t makin’ no more land.”
God may not be makin’ no more land, but real estate prices went down-derry-down in the murky gloom when the wheels came off the Ponzi sedan.
But nothing will come of this, because free markets and three-piece suits.
False Flag 2
The Virginia Flaggers plans to fly the 10-by-15-foot flag on a 50-foot pole just south of Richmond. It’s tentatively scheduled to go up Sept. 28 and will be visible from the northbound lanes of the interstate, although organizers haven’t said exactly where it will be located.
The group claims that this a benign reminder of an honorable lost cause. From farther down the page:
“Basically, the flag is being erected as a memorial to the memory and the honor of the Confederate soldiers who sacrificed, bled and died to defend Virginia from invasion,” Hathaway said.
One more time: When someone starts running on about the “Lost Cause,” ask him or her,
-
“Just what, exactly, was the cause that was lost.”
Twits on Twitter 0
Historiann asks, “Why is this the summer of tweeting badly?”
Words Have Meaning 0
Yes, indeed, they do, and the internet is a public place.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
A bit better, but still significantly above 300k.
(snip)
Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments decreased by about 48,800 to 1.52 million in the week ended July 20.
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 2.3 percent in the week ended July 27, today’s report showed.
Forty-five states and territories reported a decline in claims, while eight reported an increase. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Gunnutery, life in the streets.
After getting out of his car and waving around a gun, neighbors say the gun suddenly went off.
“Pulled his gun out trying to shoot one of them but he shot himself,” Summerson says.
“He was holding his groin and there was blood everywhere,” said neighbor Zach Watson.
There is a certain element of poetry in this.
“They Want To Beat Her with Someone Who Can’t Beat Her” 0
Frankly, I think the primary reason that Hilary Clinton is receiving so much attention as a possible candidate is 2016 is name recognition, but, really, now folks, it’s a long time until then.
In the meantime, Chris Matthews considers the current Republican assault on Clinton and what it says about Republicans.
It’s both comic and pathetic that the Republican Party is reduced to attempting to censor television network programming.