2013 archive
“It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas” 0
Oh, my.
According to a sheriff’s report, the fight began around 10:30 PM and involved three women who live together at the Spartanburg home. The dispute between the women–aged, 76, 61, and 24–was triggered “due to the Christmas tree being decorated by 2 of the females while the other female was at work.”
Candy Is Dandy, but Liquor Is Quicker 0
In the Navy, if your victim is unconscious, you have a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
Senior officers at the hospital have accepted a recommendation by an investigating officer not to pursue a trial for Cmdr. Steven Cobery because his accuser could not remember the events in question, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The former director of surgery at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, who was brought up on charges that he had sex with an intern while she was too intoxicated to give consent, will not face a court-martial.Words fail me.
Roll Call 0
Mother Jones looks at a year in childhood politeness.
Just read it.
And, via C&L, an additional tale of childhood politeness . . . .
Investigators have indicated that they believe the child accidentally shot himself in the head after he pulled the gun off a kitchen counter.
Cycles 0
I’ve seen many abusive relationships in my time.
There are far more of them than most persons imagine.
This news item just screams “abusive relationship.”
Tracing the Southern Strategy 0
The Republican Party’s reaction to Nelson Mandela career and death tracks right along with the path of Nixon’s odious Southern Strategy in transforming the Republican Party into the Party of the New Secesh:
Q and A 0
In the words of Frank Zappa:
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What’s the dirtiest part of your body?
Some say your nose. Some say your toes
But I think it’s your mind.
It’s Only a Game 0
Bertolt Brecht said
Great sport begins at a point where it has ceased to be healthy.
Perhaps he was talking about big-time football:
Follow the link. The story has, as the folks who want to appear street-wise say, “cred.”
And don’t blame this on Philadelphia. It happens all over. If you must blame anyone, blame the hypesters.
This is big-time sports, the circuses (of the famous “bread and circuses,” but without the bread) for the 99%.
The corruption of big-time football infects everything it touches.
Tip Jarring 0
Connie Schultz reminds us of a scummy fact:
This is true where you live, too. I’ve learned that from experience, too. Regardless of what city I’m visiting, it’s a fair bet that I will find yet another story about yet another restaurant or banquet hall that skims — no, let’s call it what it is: steals — tips from servers, valets and bartenders. Most of them are hourly wage earners who depend on tips to make minimum wage.
Businesses get away with this egregious practice because most patrons never think to ask, especially when the jar on the counter says “tips.” Never trust that little sign, by the way. My first column on this issue, in 2004, was about a large jar marked “tips” at a coat check in Cleveland. After making small talk with the weary clerk behind the counter, I discovered that not a cent of the jar brimming with bills went to her or her co-workers.
Red-Baiting 0
Here’s the other thing.
The folks who sling about charges of “commie” have no idea what Communism is or what it means.
For them, it’s just a convenient slur, a bogeyman with which to frighten the polity.
Communism is several things. One thing is an economic theory about concentration of wealth in few hands leading to a revolt by the poor–that part seems chillingly prescient.
Another thing is a mystical belief that, when the revolt is over, people will get governance right (they didn’t).
The third thing is that it is dead, dead, dead.
Oenophiliacs &c. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Gad Saad thinks he has figured out why you hear wine common-sewers and other foodies use nonsensical language to describe wine, coffee, and other commestibles, puffoonery such as this
Big deal. I have a flashlight with a focused beam.
Anyway, here’s a nugget:
A Christmas Story 2
Susan Feiner spins the tale of Ebeneezer Cruz, a fairy tale with a fanciful ending.
Naps on a Plane 0
I wish I could sleep like this when I travel in a tube.
Tom Wagner woke up Friday night and the plane cabin was dark. And empty. Completely empty.
He looked around from his window seat near the back of the jet and wondered, “What is going on?”
(snip)
Apparently a very deep sleeper, he didn’t wake up when the plane landed. And somehow when airline employees were doing their usual sweep of the plane, they missed him. Dozens of passengers left the plane and so did the flight crew.
Airline employees found him about 30 minutes later.