2014 archive
It’s the System, Stupid 0
Aside:
When I watched this on YouTube, it was preceded by a painful, poorly-acted advertisement full of pro-Keystone XL Pipeline propaganda.
End of a Musical Era 0
Rap music has now been thoroughly co-opted.
I dare you to watch it all the way through.
(He must be doing pretty well; the store just moved into new quarters.)
Brackets 0
Not here.
The NCAA is irretrievably corrupt and undeserving of attention.
Will the sports writers of America notice?
Probably not.
The circus pays for their bread.
News Flashers 0
No doubt someone will blame this on all the marijuana on the East Slope.
Rebranding 0
A kinder, gentler KKK, my anatomy (emphasis in the orginal).
The Duke of Hazardous Hauls Ash 0
Just what makes this “news”? It’s “olds.”
State Department of Environment and Natural Resources spokesman Jamie Kritzer says the action violated Duke’s wastewater permit at its Cape Fear plant.
Ricin Beans 0
George Smith explores the recent ricin kerfuffle in Pennsylvania, where a kid sent powdered castor beans to his ex-girlfriend’s new squeeze. You really cannot top his headline, which encapsulates the sacrifice of True Love (or abuse, or manipulation, or something):
Read the rest.
A Case of Malayse 0
Stu Bykofsky is fed up with the coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
Talking about the facts, or so-called facts, provides a case study of the weakness of breaking-news journalism, often called the first draft of history. It’s the first draft, not the final draft.
He goes on to compare the coverage to the last days of the TV show Lost (the fascination for which ever escaped me).
He sums up in one column why I avoid broadcast news. It’s become venal voyeurism for vapid viewers, less nutritious than a Hostess Twinkie.
Emily Pasted 0
Beware the courtesy cops.
When Morris (seen at right) asked the man what he had said, the attacker picked up a chair and struck Morris in the elbow. Morris said that the man then grabbed him by the throat and tried to head-butt him. At that point, Cara Martin, a 17-year-old Taco Bell worker, interceded and ordered the man to leave the restaurant.
Tax the Trades 0
Put the brakes on the banksters’ three-card monte.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” (Updated) 0
More self-politenss.
She called authorities, and Iredell EMS and first responders came to the home. They reported that Tatum had a single gunshot wound to the chest.
According to the story, he was using “steel targets.”
Afterthought:
This is “Darwin Award” territory.
Addendum:
My first idea for a precaution would be, “Don’t use steel targets.”
Jesus.
High Crimeas and Misdeamors 0
At Asia Times, Daisy Sindelar offers six lesson that can be drawn from Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Here’s one, which also serves to explain the modus operandi of Fox News and the Wingnut World News Network; follow the link for the rest:
4. It’s Not Lying If They Believe It
Both Adolf Hitler and his propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels were avid proponents of the “Big Lie,” a falsehood so flagrant, and so consequential, that people choose to accept it rather than believe its teller capable of such underhandedness. Putin, whose KGB training and rumored plastic surgery have rendered his expression all but unreadable, has employed several Big Lies — and innumerable little ones — in his Crimea campaign:
1) Russians are having their rights violated;
2) He is upset by the idea of Russians having their rights violated;
3) Power in Kyiv has been seized by fascists;
4) The situation is so dire Ukrainians themselves are fleeing to Russia;
5) No Russian troops entered Ukraine;
6) “We are not considering [annexing Crimea].”
Even in instances where such claims were demonstrably false — as in Crimea, where Russian soldiers willingly identified themselves to journalists — there has been no tangible downside to the lie. Cracking down on the few remaining free news outlets in Russia has only made it easier to sell this alternate narrative at home.
And in related developments.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still a slight positive trend.
(snip)
The four-week average declined to 327,000 from 330,500 the week before.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits increased by 41,000 to 2.89 million in the week ended March 8 after reaching a three-month low the prior period.