September, 2014 archive
Waterlogged 2
Some years ago in the mid-70s, some of my friends and I took a driving trip through the Outer Banks. It was my first visit there.
When I saw homes built dangerously close to the water (homes that now are on stilts because the Atlantic Ocean is gonna do what it’s gonna do), I recall remarking that “Americans go all stupid when someone says ‘waterfront property.'”
According to my local rag, that may be starting to change.
Contractual Obligations 0
Jim Wright reminisces about the Republican Contract on America. A snippet:
As contracts go, it was pretty straight forward. Republicans pledged on their solemn honor to reduce the size of government and make the tiny remainder accountable to the people. Boy it sure sounded good, that Contract with America. Republicans were going to clean up corruption in Congress, reform tort law, and reduce the welfare rolls.
But it was a trick. For you see, they had no honor – solemn or otherwise.
Do read the rest.
Brotherhood 0
When I was in college, I thought briefly about joining a fraternity. Then I realized, why the hell should I pay dues to get drunk, when I could get drunk quite nicely on my own for the cost of a six.
I guess I missed the part about exploiting co-eds to make myself feel like a Real Big Man.
How Stuff Works 0
Yastreblyansky explains the David Brooks Pablum Pump.
War and Mongers of War 0
Randolph T. Holbut wonders why we keep doing the same thing harder. A nugget (emphasis added):
They apparently learned nothing from the past 13 years.
Is the Islamic State brutal? Yes.
Are they an existential threat to the United States? Only if they get an army, a navy, and an air force. Like al-Qaeda. they don’t have them and are unlikely to gain the military capability to attack the United States.
So, why does our nation have to go through this dance all over again — ginning up a war against an enemy that sits about 7,000 miles away from our shores and doesn’t have a military force worthy of the name?
(snip)
It’s safe to say nobody knows for sure what will happen next. But looking back at the effectiveness of the last 13 years of America’s Mideast policy, one can see that continuing the same approach isn’t the answer.
Yet President Obama is committing our military forces to another Middle East war. Riding a wave of manufactured fear, he thinks he has no choice.
“The Talk,” Reprise 0
Another black man shares his memory.
I brushed him off. I thought that in my majority-black hometown of Newark, racism would not reach me. Little did I realize that a healthy fear of the police would become a survival skill for a young black man.
My wake-up call came at 16.
Follow the link for the rest of his story.
The Power of Advertising 5
Thanks to YouTube’s new practice of force-feeding advertisements, I have realized that I will never ever do business of any sort with “Mass Mutual,” nor wear “Android Wear.”
BB4Win 0
BB4Win stands for “BlackBox for Windows.” BlackBox is a venerable window manager for *nix. One of my favorite Linux window managers, Fluxbox, is based on BlackBox. If I can’t run Enlightenment, I run Fluxbox.
I recently installed one of the BB4Win GUI varirants, xoblite, on my Windows 7 box. Unlike the Windows interface, it is highly configurable, in ways other than mucking about with eye candy.
This is what it looks like. In the picture, you can see the xoblite right-click “Start” menu and, behind the browser, the xoblite menu, which is a simple text file, is open for editing. The system monitor that you see in the bottom right of the screen and the weather gadget in the top left are from rainmeter, a Windows alternative to GKrellM or conky (I’ve used both, but I think I prefer GKrellM.
If you wish to investigate alternatives to Windows’s clunky interface, this is a good place to start.
I have not tested this on Windows 8. I have helped a friend with Windows 8. Windows 8 sucks is less than desirable.
Sadly, BB4Win development seems to have stalled. One hopes it will pick up again.
Afterthought:
xoblite almost, but not quite, makes using Windows fun again.
“The Talk” 0
Elon James White remembers “the talk” and what it says about blue on black crime. Here’s a snippet:
Now go read the whole thing.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
The hunt for politeness:
Dougherty said the bullet is believed to have come from hunters on private property across the street. He said they had permission to be there.
The DA is calling it accidental because of course hunters are allowed to blaze away at anything without knowing what’s there.
