March, 2017 archive
Everything You Know Is Wrong* 0
The resident curmudgeon at my local rag explodes the myth of corned beef and cabbage. She recalls her time as a young foreign correspondent:
Not once.
Because it’s not an Irish dish.
Regardless of what she says, we’re having this tonight.
Update:
Try the recipe.
________________
*With apologies to the Firesign Theatre.
Suffer the Children 0
That’s not a quote from the Bible.
That’s Republican policy.
Deep Thoughts 0
David Spence tries to demystify the “deep state,” which has been much in the headlines these latter days, by pointing out there is, indeed, no such thing. Rather, there are civil servants who are trying to do their jobs, lately in the face of opposition from certain officials who would rather they not. Here’s a key paragraph (emphasis added).
All Guns, No Ifs, Ands, or Butter 0
Will Bunch considers Donald Trump’s budget proposal. He does not like what it portends. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):
Because war is just what authoritarians do. So is this budget — a tinhorn dictator budget, the budget of an immature boy-king who’s in love with the cold steel of tanks but has zero empathy for America’s humanity, let alone the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Drive politely.
Police say a woman has died after accidentally shooting herself while getting inside a car.
(snip)
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the woman was getting inside the car, when her gun accidentally went off.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
Trumpling the public good, this time in the air:
This proposal illustrates once more that, in Republican World, there is no such thing as the common good.
Follow the link for more.
Grudging a Nurse 0
Petty, stupid, and vicious–the tripod of Trumpery.
(snip)
She (one of the nurses denied entry–ed.) was told advanced practice nurses and nurse anesthetists no longer qualify for the working visas because of policy changes under U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We really question the motives,” said immigration lawyer Marc Topoleski, whose firm is retained by the (Henry Ford–ed.) hospital. “All of the immigration executive orders and all the things being rolled out have been focused on national security first, and this is clearly not an issue of national security whatsoever.”
Follow the link for the full story.
Via Raw Story.
Afterthought:
I wonder whether Canada will register an official diplomatic protest about this. I would not be at all surprised if they do.
Were I the Canadian government, I’d consider this an attack on my citizenry and a deliberate provocation.
A Ruse by Any Other Name . . . . 0
There’s nothing new about new about rebranding–“old wine in new bottles” is a cliche, but cliches become cliches because they express a truth succinctly. “Alt-Right” for “white supremacist” is a rebranding effort. The rebranders hope that you will forget that behind the shiny new label is the hate bottled from the same cesspool they’ve been swimming in for centuries.
At Above the Law, Elie Mystal excoriates another contemporary attempt to rebrand bigotry, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/us/politics/trump-travel-ban.html. A snippet:
This might come as a shock to the Witch King of bankruptcy, but “Rebranding” doesn’t work either. Not in front of a judge. You can stick a funnel on a horse and call it a unicorn, Mr. Trump, but you can’t make it s**t rainbows. You’re dealing with educated people now, not just fleecing yokels anymore.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
(Update: Link fixed.)
Look for a sign of politeness.
The man’s three grandchildren were with him and no else was hurt.
. . . and yet another gun fires itself.
I am thankful that I never had a gun that fired itself. Mine always required a force to be applied to the trigger.
QOTD 0
Dick Powell, as Richard Diamond:
Warning: Clicking the link will open a Real Audio file, which requires Realplayer, from otr.net.
