March, 2014 archive
Spring Fever 0
At the Big Box Store.
Scary Rerun 0
It’s opening day in the Bushie Leagues.
How do we know Jeb has visions of Air Force One dancing in his dreams?
Would you slink into Las Vegas to schmooze gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson, who regards GOP presidential nominees as if they were trophy heads mounted in his den, if you had no interest in the White House?
Bush is not going to Vegas to catch Meat Loaf’s act at Planet Hollywood. There are many mysteries in life. But Bush’s political ambition is not one of them.
Really, another Bush in the White House? Please. No.
That family has already damaged the polity enough.
Droning On 0
At this point, it’s just proof of concept, but what a concept! This drone spoofs your wireless connection.
“Their phone will very noisily be shouting out the name of every network its ever connected to,” Sensepost security researcher Glenn Wilkinson said. “They’ll be shouting out, ‘Starbucks, are you there?…McDonald’s Free Wi-Fi, are you there?”
That’s when Snoopy can swoop into action (and be its most devious, even more than the cartoon dog): the drone can send back a signal pretending to be networks you’ve connected to in the past. Devices two feet apart could both make connections with the quadcopter, each thinking it is a different, trusted Wi-Fi network. When the phones connect to the drone, Snoopy will intercept everything they send and receive.
Much more at the link.
The moral of the story is turn your wireless off if you are not using it.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Republicans are fond of quoting Daniel Patrick Moynihan in their quest to blame the poor for being poor. Like Christians whose faith is rooted in Leviticus, they quote only the passages that seem to justify their prejudices. Reacting to George Will’s latest attempt to dress racism up in Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, Chauncey Devega points this out:
The Daniel Patrick Moynihan who stated the following would be vilified by the Republican Party and its media machine:
First, the racist virus in the American blood stream still afflicts us: Negroes will encounter serious personal prejudice for at least another generation. Second, three centuries of sometimes unimaginable mistreatment have taken their toll on the Negro people.
(snip)
The real goal for Paul Ryan and his ilk is political self-aggrandizement by ginning up white racism against “those people” in order to advance policies that hurt the majority of Americans.
Read the rest.
Speaking of Republicans and Minorities . . . 0
Unfortunately, I am not as optimistic as the speaker.
Zombies can do a lot of damage.
A Picture Is Worth 2
This applies not just to Pennsylvania’s Corbett, but to most Republican governors. Their equation is simple:
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Most poors are black (that’s not true, natch, but it’s what they and their racist base believe), and Medicaid helps the poors, therefore it helps the blacks, and we can’t have that, now, can we?
It’s the politics of hate, because hate sells.
Golden Fleecings 0
I’m old enough to remember the great Individual Retirement Account scam. The banksters and the bosses convinced employees that they could forego their pensions for IRAs and retire with millions in the bank. It would be golden years with lots of gold. In return, the banksters got to use pension funds to play three-card monte.
So, how’s that working out for you now?
Lawyered Up 0
When I was in college, back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, I quickly realized that fraternities were little more than drinking clubs with secret handshakes, hazing, and dues. Why, I reasoned, should I pay dues to drink when I could do it quite nicely for the price of a six?
Nothing I have read or learned since has changed my conclusion. As far as I can see, the end of “Greek” societies would detract neither from society nor from college life.
The Wasted Wasteland of Hate 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., comments on the death of Fred Phelps of “God Hates Fags” fame. A nugget:
If God hates anything, surely God hates that.
Damned If You Don’t . . . . 0
. . . damned if you do.
He did it, once again, by sending in the SEALs, the U.S. Navy’s famous special forces. But this time they weren’t double-tapping a terrorist. Instead they seized a mysterious tanker that had skipped out of Libya with a shipment of oil that one of the country’s rogue militias was trying to sell on the open market. . . .
The reaction in Washington: a giant yawn. The reaction in Washington: a giant yawn. Deafening silence from Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who are always quick to demand U.S. military action in situations where it will usually make things worse. Fox News barely noticed.
That’s news inside the Beltway: If John McCain doesn’t mention it, it didn’t happen.
The Duke of Hazardous Dooms Danville 0
Once a thriving hub for tobacco and textiles, civic leaders now are left to repeatedly assure residents of this city of 43,000 that the water is safe to drink, forget about persuading businesses to sink roots here. The spill is already being used by competitors to lure business prospects away from Danville, a city official says.
Maybe Duke’s CEO could kick in some of his 2013 $8+ million compensation for his stewardship of the Duke’s ashes to help out little Danville. Oh, never mind.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Practice indiscriminate politeness.
He says Bingham was standing on a small knoll about 80 yards in front of the party and was struck by at least three pellets during the flurry of shots.
How Stuff Works 0
We went out to a local restaurant last night. One television was tuned to sports; the other, to Fox (the volume was off on both, thank heavens). I was facing the Fox News one, from which, I could tell from the crawls, the anchorblonde was vomiting lie after lie.
Shaun Mullen explains how it works. A nugget:
The Republican playbook has been simple:
* Avoid abstract ideas and appeal to the emotions.
* Constantly repeat just a few ideas by using stereotyped phrases.
* Always give only one side of the argument.
* Continuously criticize your opponents.
* Pick out one “enemy” in particular for special vilification.
This playbook would be immediately recognizable to students of the Third Reich. It was employed, almost word for word, with insidious effectiveness by Joseph Goebbels, Adolph Hitler’s minister of propaganda.
Read the rest.
