March, 2014 archive
Stray Thought, Oscars Dept. (Updated) 0
As much as I disdain the entertainment industry’s self-congratulatory selfies awards ceremonies, I do hope that 12 Years a Slave mops up the competition, if only to savor the right-wing freak out that is sure to follow.
For an serious and intelligent discussion of the movie and its historical accuracy, go to TWiB’s new Historical Blackness series for 58 minutes of enlightenment. (Warning: It may deter you from wanting to watch the movie.)
Addendum:
And so it begins.
History 0
If I remember correctly, I believe that the Czar once invaded the Ottoman empire with a troop of Hassocks.
“Wingnut Rumplestiltskin” 0
In Wingnut World, it’s the words that count, not the thought. Steven M:
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Practice accidental acts of politeness.
(snip)
A man inside the house was handling the gun when it accidentally fired, officers said. He was hit in the thigh.
“Accidentally fired.” Yeah. Another magic gun that fires itself.
And, in additional news of the polite . . . .
Clima, a worker at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, was arrested Thursday, but police say the incident happened back in November.
Court documents obtained by Newschannel 3 show Clima’s victims were a grandfather hunting with his 11-year-old grandson on Butler Drive.
He came out of the woods and rousted them for no damn reason.
Deja Vu All Over Again 0
I think John Cole is on to something:
He is quite correct, but the analogy hardly casts a pleasant light on the reign of George the Worst and on those who readily deferred to his aggressions, now, does it?
These two links help cast some light on what’s going on in Ukraine: Line one and link two.
Aside:
In the part of Delaware where I used to live, there were many Americans of Ukrainian descent. The pastor of the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church–where they had the best pirogies in the world at their bazaar and we attended a service once at which First Son’s girlfriend fainted (the usher came to us quietly and said, “Your daughter’s fainted” only she wasn’t our daughter who was standing next to me) and everyone was very nice, but that’s another story–lived three doors up the street (and he was a heck of a nice fellow).
This gives me no particular insight. It’s just a thing.
The Duke of Hazardous 0
The Rude One finds another Duke Power-driven coal ash spill waiting to happen.
Blooming Bitcoins 0
At MarketWatch, Chuck Jaffe points out that bitcoins are worth whatever persons are willing to pay for them. He cites precedent:
And during tulipomania in Holland in the 1630s, the price of a common tulip bulb more than doubled in value to three florins, or about a week’s earnings for a craftsman from that era. More rare bulbs—those priced at 40 florins prior to the run-up—increased nine-fold; one of my college textbooks describing the phenomenon recounted the tale of a single tulip being sold for a dozen sheep and four oxen, two tons of butter, 1,000 pounds of cheese and more.
News Flashers 0
Have you ever flipped (or had flipped at you) high beams as a warning of a speed trap?
But no more. A federal judge ruled in February that drivers have a First Amendment right to tell other drivers a speed trap is ahead.
The columnist goes on to suggest why cops should not consider this a bad thing.
News, Ripped from the Ticker 0
Warning: Language and bad taste.
Republican Family Values (Updated) 0
There is no question that, if Sigmund Freud came back, he would think up a whole batch of new conditions and complexes in an attempt to explain Republicans’ skeevy preoccupation with sex, women, and women and sex.
Addendum:
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Honor thy father and thy mother, politely.
The Galt and the Lamers 2
Think Progress tries to understand the glibertarian tilt of the fans of bitcoin. A nugget:
(snip)
Bitcoin users’ rejection of the government reflects the luxury of being able to live well without state support, while the less advantaged desperately need a larger government role in the banking system to help them them overcome deep, systemic bias.
Read the rest.
Via Zandar.