January, 2014 archive
Snowden Job (Updated) 0
J. M. Ashby is quite correct:
Google (just to pick one) knows more about you than the NSA ever will.
Addendum:
Dam Nation 0
In the Las Vegas Sun, Paul VanDevelder argues that the race to dam the rivers of the western United States* has exacerbated the current drought, which geological evidence suggests is the worst in a millenium, by disturbing the balance of nature. A nugget:
The tribes. Dozens of them: the Fort Mojaves, the Shoshones, the Chemehuevi and Quechan, the Hopi and Navajo, et al. Where water flows between a rock and a dry place, tribes get first dibs.
_____________________
*A dam to fill the Grand Canyon was narrowly averted as recently as 1963.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Pursue small game, politely.
The woman, whose name was not released, was shot about 3:30 p.m. near Byron Road in Jamestown Township. Her husband, 27, was attempting to shoot a rabbit and did not see that she was in the line of fire, deputies said.
Scam Alert 0
It’s almost certainly coming soon to your area:
White said the scammers have told people to meet them at Walgreens, CVS or Walmart locations to hand over money.
“We want to assure the public from all law enforcement agencies — local, state and federal — that we do not call and ask for money in lieu of being arrested,” White said.
Stray Thought 0
Even though I have not watched a football game on the telly vision all this season (and have realized that life is much more fun without watching large men on steroids run into each other), I can still take some satisfaction that the New England Patriots, a team quarterbacked by a jerk and coached by a bigger jerk, managed to lose a ball game.
I look forward to not watching the Stupor Bowl.
Can’t Kick the Habit 0
Steven M. considers Sam Polk’s argument that wealth addiction is a thing (follow the link for a description of “wealth addiction”).
The problem is that, in this case, we’re letting the addicts decide how society deals with their addiction.
In a way, this is what we do with guns in America, at least at the national level and in the red states: we let the junkies control who can obtain the stuff, how freely it’s sold, and how few restraints we can put on its exchange, by means of their unchallenged access to elected officials.
I don’t disagree with Steven M.’s analysis of the problem. The inmates have bought the asylum.
I do, however, resent the use of the word “addiction” in this context.
I’ve been addicted–cigarettes, in my case–and I’ve known persons addicted to far worse things. Addiction is a physical thing–when you stop the substance, you experience real, measurable physical symptoms.
When “addiction” is applied to excessive acquisitiveness, computer gaming, or sexual behavior (“sex addiction”), it puts a gloss of involuntariness over what is, ultimately, persons behaving badly because they want to, not because their body punishes them when they try to stop.
There’s another, much more descriptive term for “wealth addicts”: Pigs.
Hackery 0
Charles Krauthammer clutches his pearls because President Obama “never had his heart in the Afghanistan War.”
Why the hell should he?
It was George the Worst’s War, and he blew it. In the process of not getting Osama bin Laden, he sent hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghanis to useless, pointless death (and put First Son in harm’s way).
Nevertheless, what Krauthammer and his fellows most want is for you to forget that George the Worst ever happened. Even more than that, they want you to forget that Krauthammer, Cal Thomas, David Brooks, and their like spent eight years trying to convince you that George the Worst was the greatest thinker since Socrates.
Why these folks have not been expelled from my local rag’s editorial pages escapes me. I guess that, once you whore yourself out for wingnut welfare, you are fixed for life.
Right-wing hacks: Always wrong, never penalized.
And, yes, I’m fed up. Fed up that intellectual incompetence seems to be a job requirement for “conservative” political columnists.
They are not nice people.
Why Do Deadly Sins Come in “Sevens”? 0
(That’s a rhetorical question.)
I was talking with my friend yesterday about how rapid-fire “reply-to-all” business emails can be dysfunctional, leading to confusion, crossed wires, and duplicated efforts.
Now comes Science 2 dot 0 with a list of the Seven Deadly Email Sins. Explanations at the link.
“Some Pigs Are More Equal Than Others” 0
Delaware Liberal explicates democracy, teabagger style.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite to yourself.
They found one victim who had been shot. Police say the victim received a non-life threatening injury and was taken to a Grand Rapids hospital. It was later determined the injury was the result of an accidental self-inflicted shooting where the victim was struck in the leg.
And, in other news of the polite, . . . .
Stray Thought 0
I have always considered “Cornhole” to be a most unfortunate name for a game.
State Rape Update 0
State rape loses a round in court.
When Good Guys with Guns Go Bad Guy 0
A rarity.
Frederic Poag recounts how he lost his cool with a gun and nearly killed someone and how it changed his view on guns.
But I was almost Curtis Reeves. If we want to get serious about gun control that’s where our focus should be. Because when you stop respecting the power of firearms, when you forget that in a moment of anger after a tub of popcorn has been dumped on your head you just might reach for it because you’re a “good guy” and therefore have the authority to use it. That’s when your world ends with a bang.
Follow the link for the backstory. It’s powerful stuff.
Your Appliances Hate You 4
Very early in his career, before getting into movies, Woody Allen used to tell a joke about a man whose toaster mailfunctioned and burned his toast. He cussed the toaster up and down, then chucked it in the trash after it cooled.
Then he left for work. He stepped into his elevator, pushed the “G” button, and the elevator started down.
Halfway between two floors, the machine stopped, the music ceased, and a voice came out of the speakers: “Aren’t you the guy who was cruel to his toaster?”
Turns out it wasn’t just a joke, it was a prophecy (details at the link).
A major cause of this sort of stuff is that, in the rush to market, those who make all these “connected” devices think about sales, not security. And buyers don’t ask themselves, “Why does my refrigerator need to browse YouTube?”
Connecting something to the internet just because you can is likely a bad idea.
