2013 archive
Syrious Considerations 0
If you consider the arguments for raining death from the Syrian sky, they pretty much boil down to
Not, I submit, a particularly sound exercise in policy formation.
Via the BooMan.
Going Viral 0
Excerpt:
It is much easier to scare a population than to un-scare them.
The Silence of the Elephants 0
Republicans skip the celebration of the 1963 March on Washington.
Table of Equivalents 0
Oliver Willis offers a flowchart to assist right-wingers in their desparate search for a white Trayvon Martin.
Hoist Them on Their Own Petards 0
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
More accidental projectile politeness.
Droning On 0
Expect more like this:
It drove right into Patrick Lewis and two of his friends sitting in the stands.
(snip)
Virginia Beach film maker, Scott Hansen, owns the drone involved in the crash. He says he loaned it out to a pilot covering the event that day. And he says pilot error led to one of the batteries dying, causing it to crash.
Wonder how long it will take for “DUI” to stand for “droning under the influence”?
And don’t get me started on the stupid, dangerous, and cruel faux running of the bulls.
Deja Vu All Over Again (Updated) 0
Reg Henry is concerned about a rush to war.
That had the makings of a mistake anyway. A moderate rebel in Syria might be someone who allows you a blindfold before he chops your head off. If amnesia did not have such a national hold, we might remember that arming the Mujahideen when the Russians occupied Afghanistan seemed like a good idea at the time, but the blowback gave us Osama bin Laden and his pals.
(snip)
The same critics who urge Mr. Obama to war now will be urging him to more war later.
It appears that we can’t learn from history.
Hell, we can’t even learn from the present.
Addendum, Later That Same Morning:
PoliticalProf talks sense.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
For all practical purpose, flat.
(snip)
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 14,000 to 2.99 million in the week ended Aug. 17. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, rose to 331,250 last week from 330,500 the previous week.
Bloomberg’s “experts” were pretty close.
As my old boss used to say, “Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.”
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
Out on the Left Coast, some Native American folks want to build a new casino.
Others claim that it will ruin their (no doubt gated) communities.
Who’s behind the opposition?
Why, natch, it’s not the neighbors. It’s an astro-turf campaign.
It’s the other casino (in concert with the world’s biggest casino, the one in Lower Manhattan).
Dan Morain reports:
Brigade Capital Management, a secretive investment house, dumped $261,100 into the campaign to qualify the referendum earlier this month. Two other New York investment firms chipped in $89,000. Table Mountain casino, a 30-minute drive from Madera, gave $350,000, the start of a campaign that will cost millions.
This sounds like classic Abramoff.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness must be learned young.
Another student mentioned the gun to a Jordan Hill Elementary School teacher, who found the gun Tuesday afternoon, according to Judy Parker, spokeswoman for Griffin-Spalding County schools. The teacher brought the backpack and gun to the principal, who called police and the child’s parents, Parker said.