2013 archive
Embarrassment Regency 0
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H/T to The Richmonder for keeping a weather eye on the Regent.
War and Remembrance 2
The Battle of Gettysburg is all over the news this week, as death, dismemberment, and dysentery are romanticized.*
I suspect that proponents of the “Lost Cause,” in particular, focus on the battles because doing so enables them to obfuscate just exactly what cause was lost.
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*Yes, I’ve been to Gettysburg, Antietam, the Wilderness, Richmond, and other battlefield sites. Of those, I think the Cornfield at Antietam affected me the most.
When I spent my Junior Year in England, I had a friend who was an American Civil War military history buff. It was a week before I figured out what he meant when he spoke of “the Battle of Aunty Ate ‘Em.”
Clapptrap 2
I’m not necessarily a David Sirota fan. I find his work “Sirota-centric.” Nevertheless, I think this interview is worth a listen.
I think that some consideration should be given to the idea that the NSA has managed to convince itself that SIGINT is somehow separate and distinct from spying, as it does not involve secret meetings, drop sites, trench coats, and suicide cyanide capsules.
Pegging the Hypocrisy Meter 0
To track someone down (against police advice, mind you), kill him, find out that he was armed with a soft drink and a package of Skittles, and then claim self-defense–well, that pegs the bullshit meter.
The plain and simple truth is that Trayvon Martin is dead only because of the the color of his skin.
All the rest is window dressing.
Anyone who argues for “all the rest,” a pox upon him or her.
Embed via Balloon Juice.
Waxing Ross 0
Afterthought:
I think it is a rather unreasonable condition of employment.
I know that, when the Amtrak Police Department first got Tasers, the training involved being Tased, so that officers carrying Tasers would know what they felt like. The idea was that they would use them more wisely if they understood the effects first-hand.
I know this because some of the classes took place in the training center where I was based.
I don’t think the same reasoning can extend to this.
Budget Hawks Hucksters
0
What happens when the evul fedrul guvmint tries to save some money and do something sensible and business-like?
Budget hawks turn into attacking budget doves.
A full dose of depression awaits at the link.
Playing Doctor 0
I have long thought–and I have actually mentioned in these electrons–that I think more attention should be paid to the perviness of the Republican fascination with lady parts, mandatory examinations, ultrasounds, and the like.
I think Chauncey Devega has put his finger on it: It’s a manifestation of a fascination with “gyno-porn.” (Yes, there is such a thing. It’s the same old stuff, but set in doctors’ offices with medical equipment for props.)
Follow the link for more.
The Downward Gavel 0
The ability of some to take offense and perceive non-existent malice can astound.
A California judge has bounced a case by a few parents claiming that yoga, offered in some San Diego schools as an alternative to traditional phys. ed., is inherently religious.
The judge said parents who objected relied on personal opinions, some culled from Internet searches.
“It’s almost like a trial by Wikipedia, which isn’t what this court does,” said Meyer, who took nearly two hours to explain a decision that explored yoga’s Indian roots and philosophy.
The lawyer for the parents, knowing prospects for long-term employment when he sees them, is promising to appeal.
Full Disclosure:
I know persons who practice yoga as a form of exercise. Not one of them has become Hindu.
There is only one possible response to someone who thinks that the “downward dog” is ipso facto proselytizing its practitioners for (shiver) “Eastern Religions”:
Oh, ye of little faith!
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yes, we have a trifecta of politeness today! Cash in your tickets at the window.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
More familial politeness.
Tina Owens went outside to investigate, taking along a .40 caliber pistol and fired multiple shots to scare away the intruders. One of the shots went astray, said Sheriff Marano, traveling into the house wall and hitting William Owens in the chest. William later died from his injuries.
Astray my anatomy. If you are not aiming at a known target, every shot is “astray.”
Despite what the NRA would have you believe, guns are not magic wands that bestow courtesy, safety, and civility. They have one function, one that they accomplish most efficiently.
It’s not going to stop, is it?
Via TPM.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Treat your brothers and sisters politely.
The grandfather said he believed that the 4-year-old boy picked up the pistol and shot his sister in the mouth, causing a bullet to lodge in her spine.
(Yet another gun nut who didn’t make sure the damn thing was unloaded.)