2014 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Families enable politeness.
The child suffered a single gunshot wound to the head, Rice said.
No Mercy 0
“Compassionate conservatism” is an oxymoron.
“Conservatism” has devolved into nasty for the sake of nasty, hate-full-ness for the sake of hate.
Ask me nicely, I’ll tell you what I really think.
Where Did They Go? 1
Steven M. investigates the Mysterious Case of the Missing Teabags.
Follow the link; find out why they went missing.
Droning On, Men Are Pigs Dept. 0
From the accompanying article:
Video below the fold because it autoplays.
The Climates They Is a-Changing, Reprise 0
The big headline in today’s local rag (pictures at the link) was about the violent rain and severe flooding yesterday. I measured three inches, most of which fell in a three hours, in my rain gauge.
This Is Your Brain on Rove 0
PoliticalProf explains how this works:
1. political figure makes absurd claim about an opponent/policy;
2. partisans respond, defending or the denying the claim according to their ideologies;
3. the focus rapidly turns onto the person or policy against whom the original charge was made: the person or policy has to “prove” it does not do/say what the accuser claims;
4. the firestorm cools down until new charge X is made and the cycle repeats.
Video moved below the fold because it autoplays on some systems.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Show courtesy on the highways, especially after a near miss.
Every city, Dodge City; every hill, Boot Hill.
You Want Fries with That? 0
It is not news that fast food (and other eating place) workers are underpaid, but few persons realize just how underpaid they are.
Facing South runs the numbers. A nugget:
- Average hourly wage currently earned by U.S. fast-food workers: $9
- Yearly salary that amounts to: about $19,000
- Official poverty line for a family of three: $19,790
What If You Gave a Protest and No One Showed? 0
Today, teabaggers can answer that question.
Afterthought:
These folks live in a Fox News world. They really believe that the country wants to return to 1850, when white men ruled and everyone else knew their place.
They may be buffoons, but they are dangerous buffoons.
American Taliban 0
Not a difference in kind, merely one in degree.
Twits on Twitter 0
Twits with no self-awareness whatsoever. None. Nada. Zilch.
Big Men . . . 0
. . . when they are packing.
Addendum:
Today’s local rag has another story about big men being big.
“I don’t understand,” said Peacock, owner of Farmer Frank’s Farm Market. “They were in a pen. What could they have done to deserve this?”
Peacock – a sergeant first class with the Army Reserve – said the goats appeared to have been shot in the head Saturday night, after he last checked on them.
Mark Herring Is an Excellent Attorney-General 0
You can know a man by the company he keeps. You can also know a man by the company he doesn’t keep.
By any indication, Mark Herring is a great guy.
The Prince William County* Republican Thursday introduced resolutions in the House of Delegates that would direct legislative committees to consider whether aspects of Herring’s official conduct constitute impeachable offenses.
Bob Marshall, one of the most retrograde demagogues in the Virginia House of Delegates, is offended that Mr. Herring’s hate quotient is too low; in Marshall’s view, Mr. Herring ain’t hatin’ enuf on the gays.
Indeed, he ain’t hatin’ at all. The politics of hate isn’t his thing.
(Actually, I have met Mr. Herring, not that he would remember me from Adam, and he is a great guy).
Aside:
Elections matter, folks. Voting is not a right. It is a duty.
You may see only a little bit of difference between the parties, but that little bit of difference can mean a hell of a big difference in day-to-day lives. There is no better example of this than the contrast between the current and the previous administrations in Virginia.
Vote, and when you do, vote in the real world, not in some fanciful world of purists, because the world ain’t pure (and, for that matter, neither are you and I, but that’s a different tale).