2018 archive
Lead Poisoning 0
A couple buys a home and discovers that automobile battery casings have been used in the fill for the property.*
Automobile batteries contain lead.
I really don’t have anything constructive or creative or clever to say about this, other than that it’s just too despicable for words.
________________
*One suspects that this is recycling that Scott Pruitt would find laudatory.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
A Trumpled work-out:
Rachid Maiga, 27, and Tshyrad Oates, 25, told WNBC-TV in New York they were playing basketball for a few minutes at the LA Fitness club in Secaucus on April 15 when an employee asked them to leave.
Gruesome and familiar details at the link.
Here’s the thumbnail: Of course, the police were called and of course there is a video and of course the video went viral and of course LA Fitness apologized after that happened and of course the victims think the apology is about as sincere as a Trump promise . . . .
QOTD 0
Robert van Gulik:
As our old proverb states: “A dangerous dog bites without first baring its teeth.”
van Gulik, Robert, The Chinese Maze Murders (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997), p. 32.
This Week in the Trumpling 0
Shaun Mullen sums it up.
Jokes that Fall Flat and Other International Embarassments 0
Gina Barreca finds Donald Trump’s attempts at humor to be somewhat off-putting.
Meta: Stats 0
I just checked my stats plugin. The numbers were higher than I had expected.
To all of you who did not abandon me when this blog was having its difficulties earlier this year, I proffer my deepest gratitude. To anyone new, welcome.
The Trollpublican Party 0
Jeremy E. Sherman argues that the Republican Party has become the party of trolls and trolling. Here’s a bit:
Against fascism? Not anymore. Against deficit spending? Gone with their blow-hard wind. Religious virtues? Vaporized time and time again with dismissive self-forgiveness, the “mulligans” they give only to themselves. Anti-PC? Only their opponent’s sensitivities. Pro-freedom? Only the freedom to never have to admit that they could be wrong.
It’s obvious to everyone not sucked in that the party has been taken over by pathological self-suck-ups, fawning over their pretend piety. They will do or say anything to sustain even for another hour their false sense of absolute triumph, authority, and vindication.
Follow the link for more, including suggestions as to how to combat trollish behavior.
Afterthought:
I wish he’d loosen up a bit and tell us what he really thinks.
Suffer the Children (and Their Teachers) 0
Paul Krugman explains why the Republican mania for tax cuts has led to teachers’ protests.
A snippet, describing what happens when Republicans cut state taxes into the bone, requiring cutbacks in services to balance state budgets:
So what conservative state governments have mainly done is squeeze teachers themselves.
Now, teaching kids was never a way to get rich. However, being a schoolteacher used to put you solidly in the middle class, with a decent income and benefits. In much of the country, however, that is no longer true.
Aside:
It’s ironic, in a way, how the Republican belief that there is no such thing as the common good leads to there being no such thing as the common good.
White Coffee 0
Lee interviews an eyewitness to the racist arrest in the Philadelphia Starbucks. Listen.
Words fail me.
Know Them by the Company They Keep 0
Jay Bookman marvels at the venality of Donald Trump’s personnel. An excerpt: