June, 2018 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
A recipe for politeness at the confluence of guns and stupid:
Warren police say Garlock put the gun in the broiler because children were coming over.
His girlfriend, unaware of the gun’s presence, turned on the oven Sunday to bake. Police say she called out to Garlock when she thought she heard a gunshot fired outside. Police say Garlock was struck by bullets or bullet fragments when they exploded inside the gun.
The person who wrote the story decided to be all cutesy-poo and point out that “no charges have been filed against the oven,” but, then, it wasn’t the oven that was stupid and negligent was it?
It wasn’t the girlfriend, either. How many of you open the oven door to check for weaponry before turning on the broiler?
Fuffu.
LanternAsia v. 2, Part One 5
LanternAsia returned to the Norfolk Botanical Garden this spring and we finally got a chance to visit it. It was here two years ago. This time, it was mostly new exhibits; only three of the exhibits from 2016 were repeated.
See the rest of the posts in this series: Part Two. Part Three. Part Four. Part Five. Part Six.
Here are some of the pictures I took. More will follow.
Goldfish with Bubbles–click for a larger image
Twits on Twitter, Base Desires Dept. 0
In a thoughtful article that slices through the fog of point-counterpoint claims about Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet and the subsequent cancellation of her television show, Bret Stephen’s concludes
Follow the link to learn why he reached that conclusion.
“Is It or Isn’t It?” 0
Elie Mystal investigates the convoluted conundrum of Schrodinger’s Pardon.
Allie-Allie-in-Free? 0
Thom discusses that question.
Frankly, I fear that I share Thom’s pessimism.
Greens Fees 0
Farron points out that Donald Trump’s golfing excursions have cost $67,000,000 in the past year, four times as much as the Mueller investigation.
Nothing Doing with the Do Nothings 0
Jay Bookman considers Donald Trump’s unconstitutional (yes, “unconstitutional”!) actions on tariffs and the feckless and irresponsible reactions of the Republican Congress. A snippet:
The answer is: Not a damn thing.
Clearly, they have the authority to intervene. The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, “Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” If Trump has the authority to unilaterally impose these tariffs without congressional oversight, it is only because previous Congresses delegated that power to previous presidents, trusting that they would be responsible and sane in how they used that authority. If you do not believe that the current president is using it in that fashion, then that delegation of power should be withdrawn.
Follow the link for the complete article.
Image via Job’s Anger.
No Place To Hide 0
I normally keep the GPS on my Android phone turned off, unless I have a positive need to use it. For example, I turn it on when I am using Move! Bike Computer to record a bicycle ride. Also, I don’t use the phone for navigation. I use maps.
Remember maps? They are big and colorful and easy to read and don’t talk back.
Yesterday, I turned the GPS on to perform a function and neglected to turn it off when I was done.
After going out for Sunday morning breakfast at our favorite breakfast place (it’s not fancy, but the food is good, the prices reasonable, the people nice, and the country ham to die for), we stopped at a local commercial emporium to purchase some items. Shortly thereafter, I received a message from Google asking me to provide a review of [name of commercial emporium].
I won’t make that mistake again.
It’s not Google’s business, or anyone else’s business, where the hell I choose to shop. Or where you choose to shop.
And people worry about the NSA and surveillance, for Pete’s sake, while they run nekkid through Silicon Valley without consciousness of their nekkidness, as Adam and Eve in Eden before eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
We are doomed.
Furrfu.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Get a load of the politeness:
She told investigators that the man was playing around with a handgun and she had told him to stop. He reportedly told her not to worry because the gun was unloaded. At one point, he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
It was loaded.
Unbalanced and Unchecked 0
Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, discusses why the Founders created a system of checks and balances and laments their erosion. A nugget:
Sadly, for all kinds of reasons — none good — our elected officials have failed to rein in the authoritarian tendencies of the chief executive. We read that there are two different realities co-existing in America. One is based on “alternative facts.” It is OK to read whatever we want but it just isn’t OK to actually believe that which isn’t true. That is how democracies unwind.
Yet some people do believe the lies, deceit, bluster and bullying, because no one is standing up against that un-American behavior. At least, no one in the political party of the president will do so out of fear of political reprisal. No badge of courage for that, I would suggest.
I commend the entire piece to your attention.