First Looks category archive

Off to drink liberally.

Fun and fellowship for liberals. Join us and talk about anything in a relaxed atmosphere.

When: Thursday, May 12, 6 p.

Where:
Croc’s 19 Street Bistro
620 19th Street (Map)

More here.

Things to do.

Plus I need a break. Paying attention is just too damned depressing.

The important part starts at about the 4:30 mark.

Via Raw Story.

Etiquette demands that you place great stock in politeness.

Deputies deteremined that Shawn Capps, 40, was installing a homemade stock for a 12-gauge short shotgun in the garage. During the installation, Capps slammed the shotgun onto the ground, and a round was discharged into his right thigh.

Via Harry Shearer’s Le Show.

TPM rounds up the best (?) right-wing reactions to the news that a Harriet Tubman is to be on the $20.00 bill.

You couldn’t make this stuff up.

Off to drink liberally.

Read more »

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, April 7.

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.

Meet the old white men who just don’t get the “facts of life.”

Honest to Betsy, you can’t make this stuff up. (And Betsy was just as aghast as I. She told me so.)

_______________

*Put me out of my misery here. What the hell do “birds and bees” have to do with it, anyway? Do birds do it with bees?

Inquiring minds want to know.

It’s a con and a scam.

Lyft drivers have been shorted about $126 million in pay over the past four years, according to documents released Friday as part of a lawsuit against the company.

The massive back-pay estimate is based on a federal standard for per-mile reimbursements, but the alleged underpayment really centers on a much more fundamental and complicated question: Are people who drive for companies like Lyft and Uber employees, independent contractors, or something in between?

The cab-killer apps treat their drivers as contractors to save tremendous amounts of money by evading the legal protections that employees enjoy.

Follow the link for a detailed analysis of the mechanics of the con.

Warning: Language.

Be polite at the polling place.

Alan Bethea, 45, took a .380 pistol out of his backpack during a heated exchange with co-workers at the Louisa May Alcott School polling station, according to the report. Though he did not point the gun at anyone, he allegedly verbally threatened those around him.

Mental health day.

Scott Verner has some words for those who think they can influence the country by not voting. A snippet:

We all know that not deciding is actually deciding.

Making a statement of protest by refusing to vote is a dangerous and self-defeating idea. When people buy out, it guarantees only that things will continue getting worse. In the real world, not participating isn’t very different from not caring. But I know you do care.

Aside:

Apathy is abdication.

Werner Herzog’s Bear mulls over his pessimism at the rise of Trump. In the midst of his longer post, he makes this observation, which has been waiting to be made:

And please spare me the talk of Trumpism as the angst of the dispossessed. Plenty working and middle class folks who’ve fallen on hard times, both white and not, have avoided blaming their plight on immigrants.

Read the rest.

Off to drink liberally.

Fun and fellowship for liberals. Join us and talk about anything in a relaxed atmosphere.

When: Thursday, March 10, 6 p.

Where:
Croc’s 19 Street Bistro
620 19th Street (Map)

More here.