March, 2016 archive
Dreams in the WitchHouse 0
As I was driving home from dinner with my friend, who had an engagement, I was passed by an SUV (SVU might be more like it) with the word, “T-R-U-M-P,” on its rear window in luminous tape.
That sight would have given H. P. Lovecraft himself the willies.
Afterthought:
My other thought was, “There goes a racist.”
By the company they keep shall ye know them.
Times Change 0
Warning: Language and innuendo.
I believe the psychological term for what Jeffrey Lord (“Helmet Head”) is doing is “projection.”
Via Raw Story.
American Taliban: Jingo Unchained 0
Werner Herzog’s Bear thinks that the punditocracy is overlooking the central appeal of Donald Trump, even as they clutch their pearls and fall on their fainting couches, in the grip of the vapors at his ungentlemanly behavior.
Mr. Bear believes that uniting Trump’s appeals to bigotry, racism, and xenophobia is an overweening theme of aggressive nationalism*. I urge you to read his full piece; here’s a bit:
About the same time that Mr. Bear was forming his post, Giles Fraser of The Guardian offered his theory as to how Americans who loudly and vociferously proclaim their fealty to Jesus Christ can espouse policies that directly counter his words as reported in the four Gospels:
In short, he suggests that American fundamentalists evangelicals whatever they call themselves today you know who I mean have replaced the Prince of Peace with a God of War–that they have built their own Golden Christ, wrapped in an American flag, carrying an M16, and piloting a Predator drone.
Frankly, I think that both writers are onto something. In particular, it is much easier for persons to change their god than it is for them to change themselves. Christianists (or, as Michael in Norfolk calls them, “Christofascists”) have taken that step.
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*Left implicit is the “white’ in nationalism.
“Their Kind of People” 0
Chauncey Devega thinks that the Republican effort to rebrand their party has succeeded. Here’s a bit; follow the link for the rest (emphasis in the original).
By these criteria, the post-civil rights era Republican Party is the United States’ largest white identity organization, one in which conservatism and racism are now one and the same thing.
Droning On 0
Let more robotic death rain from more skies.
“We hope to proceed to the next phase in 2017 to prepare for the full-fledged development of operational demonstrators of air combat drones by 2025,” the statement said.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
No selfie awareness.
No selfie awareness whatsoever.
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Guns and carnage! guns and carnage!
They go together like a horse and carriage.
Let me tell you, brother,
If you’ve got one, you’ll get the other.
“Watch Out. It’s an Emoji and It’s about To Go Off!” 0
I’ve wondered before, just how stupid do you have to be to qualify to be a school administrator.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
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, March 3.
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)
Join the forums.
Berning Bridges 2
Elie Mystal has a theory as to why minorities are not feeling the Bern. Those excerpts convey her main point.
Can I just throw out there the possibility that Sanders is under-performing with minorities because Sanders is doing something wrong?
(snip)
It is insulting to minorities to suggest that most of the things we hoped could be accomplished under Barack Obama can be done now… if only we put an old white guy in charge. Immigration reform! Justice for Trayvon! An economic recovery that works for all! Everything is possible again, as long as it’s a white guy leading the charge!
Do please read the entire piece. She says much more.
I think she has a point.
I’ve mentioned before in these electrons that the lefties I find most irritating are the purists, the ones who, if they don’t get the whole loaf, every crumb including the one still left in the loaf pan, get all up in a huff and take their ball* elsewhere–the sort of folks who voted for Nader because there wasn’t a bit of difference between Bush and Gore.
Though Sanders is a good and decent person and he and Clinton are conducting as principled a campaign against each other as we have seen in some time–a minuet compared to the Republican dog fight in a latrine–too many Sanders supporters behave like officious sneering jerks. They’ve even earned their own nickname.
Officious sneering jerks may not win friends, but they sure as hell influence people.
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*Yeah, I know it’s a mixed metaphor.
It’s my blog and I can mix what I want to.
You would mix too if it happened to you.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
For all practical purposes, no significant movement.
(snip)
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week swings, decreased to 270,250 from 272,000.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose by 3,000 to 2.26 million in the week ended Feb. 20. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 1.7 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
Aside:
Really, Bloomberg? “Unexpectedly”? When your “experts” unexpect almost everything that the unemployment rate does?
Bitcoin: Lawyer Argues, “There’s No There, There” 0
In the Silk Road case, the defendant’s lawyer has taken a creative approach to the portion of the charges related to money-laundering. He’s arguing that, since Bitcoins aren’t legally recognized as money, they can’t be laundered, regardless of how dirty they are.
If the government doesn’t consider Bitcoin to be money, Dratel argued, then transactions conducted solely in Bitcoin don’t fall under 18 U.S.C. §1956, the US money laundering statute, which includes specific language referring to “funds,” “monetary instruments,” and “financial institutions.” For this reason, he said, the money-laundering charge against Ulbricht should be dismissed.
Follow the link for much, much more.
The Dog Whistlers 0
Dick Polman observes that Republicans are putting away their dog whistles.
(Quoting Paul Ryan) “If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices. We appeal to their highest ideals. This is the party of Lincoln.”
I’m glad I wasn’t sipping coffee when I heard Ryan say that, because the liquid would’ve exited through my nose. I thought of Keith Richard, who wrote in his rock n’ roll memoir that life’s absurdities are best handled with “legs-in-the-air laughter.”
“This party does not prey on people’s prejudices …”
Is Ryan kidding or what? Because it’s empirical fact that his party has been preying on prejudice for the past 50 years. Donald Trump is different only in degree. He has merely ditched the dog whistle and stripped away the code words.
Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Bear is not optimistic; he sees a real danger of a fascist America. Here’s a bit from his latest piece on Trumpery and Republicanism.
(Continued below the fold.)
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