From Pine View Farm

September, 2014 archive

Bowdlerdash 0

Leonard Pitts, Jr., comments on the right’s campaign to bowdlerize American history, leaving out the bits they don’t like (which, not surprisingly, are the bits that give the lie to their propaganda). A nugget:

Censoring history is an act of cowardice. The Colorado demonstrations suggest that some of us, at least, are still brave enough for the truth.

Read the rest.

Share

War and Mongers of War 0

On the take:

Share

Twits on Twitter 0

Injudicious twits.

Share

Make TWUUG Your LUG 0

Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.

It’s not hard; it’s just different.

Tidewater Unix Users Group

What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.

Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.

Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.

When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, October 2.

Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)

Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)

Share

Filters 0

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Scatter random acts of politeness along your way.

A family preparing to turn in their rental car after a week in Cocoa Beach discovered a loaded handgun on the floor of the vehicle amongst their 2-year-old’s toys.

Louis Venuto was helping his daughter Chloe round up her toys when she held up a .45 caliber handgun, reports 5NBC Chicago.

A shell was chambered and the safety was off.

Share

Facebook Frolics 0

Challenged.

Share

“A Day’s Work for a Day’s Pay” 0

Dream on.

A ProPublica review of U.S. Department of Labor investigations shows that oil and gas workers — men and women often performing high-risk jobs — are routinely being underpaid, and the companies hiring them often are using accounting techniques to deny workers benefits such as medical leave or unemployment insurance.

Share

News, Ripped from the Ticker 0

Share

QOTD 0

Rita Mae Brown:

I believe in a lively disrespect for most forms of authority.

Share

Remember Summer 0

Swallowtail

Read more »

Share

No iJunk Need Apply 0

Steve Ballmer compiled an enviable record while CEO of Microsoft. From Bing! to Windows 8, every major decision he made was wrong. He’s no longer CEO (see the preceding sentence), but he is still Microsoft in the head.

Former Microsoft CEO and new Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is known for his distaste for Apple products. It’s not shocking then that Ballmer, who once grabbed an employee’s iPhone at a Microsoft meeting and pretended to stomp on it, plans to phase out iPhones and iPads from the Clippers locker room.

Words fail me.

Share

Twits on Twitter 0

Political twits.

Share

Creation Myths 1

Robert Reich spoke in Seattle yesterday and punctured a myth (not that anyone will pay attention):

The rich are not job creators . . . The job creators are not people at the top, but those at the middle and below.

Follow the link for the rest.

Share

Scot Free? 0

The next time you hear someone say “states’ rights,” ask, “States’ rights to do just what, exactly?”

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Guns + stupid = polite.

A man accused of firing a bullet that broke a neighbor’s window says he fired the gun because he knew of no other way to unload it, police said.

After the shooting on Friday afternoon in Middletown, Bucks County, George Byrd IV first denied knowledge of the shooting to a detective, then admitted he fired the weapon to clear the chamber because he was unfamiliar with guns, police said.

Share

The Galt and the Lamers 1

Via Raw Story.

Share

The Long Goodbye 0

Bob Molinaro on milking it for all it’s worth:

The merchandising of Derek Jeter’s long farewell tour by the Yankees, Nike, Gatorade and others amounts to a tribute industry unmatched in sports history. And the selling isn’t about to stop. Not when there are still so many more emotions to be manipulated for corporate gain.

Share

The Voter Fraud Fraud 0

The Republican gut-out-the-vote effort continues:

According to the N.C. Board of Elections, Americans for Prosperity, a national conservative group, has created quite a headache by sending out incorrect voter registration information, including what was dubbed an “official” voter registration form. But the form was fraught with errors and conflicting information, including the deadline to register, whom to send voter registration information to, and who answers queries about voter information.

(snip)

The State Board of Elections says it has received hundreds of complaints from people receiving the forms. “It’s caused a lot of confusion,” said Joshua Lawson, a public information officer for the board. He noted that the board of elections works with political groups to prevent just this kind of misinformation, but Americans for Prosperity didn’t contact the board about the mailings.

Such misinformation about voter registration can be a felony if intentionally misleading and proven to suppress voters. We hope that’s not the case here. Some observers think it was just a mistake – though an egregious one.

It’s simple. Republicans know that, if people vote, they will lose. (Americans for Prosperity, by the way, is fueled by Koch.)

Share

QOTD 0

Yip Harburg:

This we learn from Watergate that almost any creep’ll be glad to help the Government overthrow the people.

Share