Author's archive
At the Meeting 0
Aside:
Frankly, I suspect that this is not too far off from how many NRA members see themselves: As characters–the heroes, of course–in a Western.
Image via Job’s Anger.
Dealing from the Top of the Deck 0
The Des Moines Register’s Kathie Obradovich discusses a new twist in the Republican gut-out-the-vote playbook. A snippet:
This may not seem like a huge deal to people who take time to learn who’s running for office before they show up to vote. But the fact is, numerous studies have shown that the party whose candidates come first on the ballot have an advantage.
Senate File 2346 would require county auditors to put partisan candidates on the election ballot according to the results of the last governor’s election. So if Republicans won the governor’s race in that county, as they did in all but Johnson County in 2014, their candidates would top the ballot.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Trumpled Walmart shoppers.
“My mother was fearful that he might pull out a firearm too. That’s what she told me afterward,” said Maria Meneses.
Meneses says the man was standing outside his car taking pictures of her family and their vehicle.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Slow learner.
Later, Sack picked up the rifle while the other three men were looking at their cell phones.
Sack told police that he looked through the scope but was unable to see because of what he thought was poor lighting. Not realizing the scope caps were down, Sack then swung the rifle towards King and touched the trigger, shooting King in the head.
Sack told police he “knew he should have treated the gun as if it were loaded” as he was instructed to do in hunter safety courses.
QOTD 0
S. S. Van Dine:
He took one of the fish out of the water with a small net, and it inflated itself into the shape of a ball.
“Curious idea,” Stamm commented, “–blowing oneself up into a ball to keep from being swallowed.”
“Oh, quite human, I should say,” Vance returned dryly. “All our politicians do the same thing.”
Van Dine, S. S. (Willard Huntington Wright), The Dragon Murder Case in
The Philo Vance Murder Cases, v. 4 (London: Leontaur, 2010), p-. 173-174
An Accidental Truth 0
I find it notable that the audio regarding the conversation with Trudeau was leaked by a “Republican donor.” Could it be that someone is fed up?
An iKey for Your iJunk 0
El Reg reports:
The GrayKey site itself is hidden behind a registration wall, and maker GrayShift simply says the product “is not for everybody”. The biz did not respond to a request for comment.
Antivirus outfit MalwareBytes says it was able to get a closer look at the device and its underlying technology, and the company does not like what it sees. Researcher Thomas Reed said the device carries with it some “significant security risks”.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Words sometimes catch up with you.
Bradley Baugh was fired on March 9 after only a few weeks with the Springfield Fire/Rescue Division, according to city records obtained by the Springfield News-Sun through a public records request.
City representatives refused to reveal the contents of the post; they would say only that it was “awful.”
Facebook Frolics, Biometric Boog-a-Loo Dept. 0
Mike Papantonio talks with Brigida Santos about why a judge is ordering Facebook to face trial over its collection of data from personal images.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness builds strong families.
Julian Anderson-Randle killed 63-year-old Rhonda Randle in his home and reported himself to police.
According to the story, this is just another “horrible accident.”
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Farron explains why truth and trust matter in international relationships–something Donald Trump does not understand.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
Zeynep Tufekci noticed that, when she started watching political videos, whether left- or right-leaning, YouTube’s recommendations for additional videos skewed more and more radical. She wonders why. Here’s a bit of her article:
What keeps people glued to YouTube? Its algorithm seems to have concluded that people are drawn to content that is more extreme than what they started with — or to incendiary content in general.
Follow the link for the rest, then stop following YouTube recommendations.