2014 archive
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
No difference.
(snip)
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, rose to 314,250 from 312,250 the week before.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits climbed by 12,000 to 2.57 million in the week ended June 14. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits rose to 2 percent during that period from 1.9 percent, today’s report showed.
Uber Geeks 0
George Smith savages the Uber myth in a Up-Lyfting post revealing the fraud behind the curtain. A nugget (emphasis added):
(snip)
. . . the basic application is the use of technology to flood a service with under-priced amateurs and part-timers trying to earn some extra money in a crippled economy.
Read the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Party politely.
Investigators say Bryant and his 22-year-old cousin, Timothy Scott Glover, had been drinking liquor that night, and Glover had been in possession of a shotgun. Further investigation revealed Glover, who authorities say was intoxicated, was “carelessly” handling the shotgun when it discharged, firing a fatal blow into Bryant’s body.
This shows why guns in bars is such a good idea.
The Galt and the Lamers 0
Steven M. explains how the Rand Design plays out in real life. A nugget:
Earth to Randians: this is how capitalism works. This is how money works. Things don’t become sclerotic because of jackbooted government totalitarianism — they become sclerotic because the powerful work hard to keep themselves powerful, at the expense of upstarts.
Droning On, Possible Peeping Perps Dept. 0
No one could have predicted . . . .
. . . The building employee told a Seattle Police Department officer that they went outside the building’s main entrance and “observed two males who appeared to be operating the drone. Next to them was a tripod with what appeared to be a video camera.”
Cells Blocked 0
A good ruling.
Cellphones are powerful devices unlike anything else police may find on someone they arrest, Chief Justice John Roberts said for the court. Because the phones contain so much information, police must get a warrant before looking through them, Roberts said.
Stray Thought 0
A bicycle ride on trash day in the heat of the summer can be an olfactory adventure.
Drinking Liberally Virginia Beach Tomorrow 0
Fun and fellowship for liberals. Join us and talk about anything in a relaxed atmosphere.
When: Thursday, June 26nd, 6 p.
Where:
Croc’s 19 Street Bistro
620 19th Street (Map)
More here.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite amongst your friends.
(snip)
The gun was one of two firearms in a truck owned by the grandfather of one of the teens. The sheriff said Robert was shot when one of his friends tried to pass him the gun and it accidentally discharged.
More guns will prevent this from happening to others.
A Dixiecrat by Any Other Name . . . 0
F. T. Rea reminds us ignore the labels and watch the deeds. A nugget:
. . . Labels come and go like other styles, but that wicked sense of entitlement hasn’t changed much.
Career Choices 0
Scott Maxwell:
One difference: Porn stars do it on the table, not under it.
Tradition 0
News item:
When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, growing up under Jim Crow, we referred to black persons as “colored.” It was the polite word. My South Carolina grandmother, born in 1900, always called black persons “darkies”; she thought it impolite to remind them that they were black (as if they didn’t know it).
(I heard the N-word from my father’s lips only once: we were watching a football game and Paul Warfield was racing for a touchdown. My father leapt from his chair saying, “Look at that [N-word] run.” We were raised to know that that word was, at best, rude.)
I was young and unaware. Now I’m old and at least somewhat aware. I’m a Southern boy, and I know bigots–and bigotry–when I see them.
Many years later, referring to Jim Crow, my father said, “I’m glad those days are gone.” But those days aren’t gone. Jim Crow keeps trying to make a comeback. And Jim Crow has many companions, among them Dan Snyder and his acolytes (and the Republican Party, but that’s a different post), who think that “Redskins” is not a slur. (Full Disclosure: I have a “Redskins” mug purchased many years ago, when I lived in Northern Virginia and Washington, D. C., had a professional football team. Awareness is not a one-time thing–it’s a process. It just went in the trash.)
Those days will not be gone until persons who consider themselves “respectable” realize that defending bigotry and bigoted behavior in all its forms is not only not moral, but not “respectable,” until they realize that tradition is not a defense for hate-fullness. The Rude One expresses this rudely, but effectively.
Invoking tradition in the defense of bigotry is dressing bigotry in Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, nothing more.
Follow the link to the image. Read the comments. They are a lesson in how bigots rationalize bigotry.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Cleanliness is next to politeness.
(snip)
Police interviewed several people inside the home at the time. Investigators believe it happened while several guns were being cleaned after they had recently been fired at a shooting range.
We have clearly reached the shooting singularity. Guns keep going off on their ownsomes, without human intervention, if you can believe what you read.