First Looks category archive

At the Raleigh News and Observer, Barton Swaim suggests that Trump used political correctness to appeal to his followers by campaigning against it; Swaim suggests that the tactic may well have backfired. Here’s a snippet (emphasis added):

That feeling of delegitimation, of not being able to state one’s beliefs without attracting accusations of bigotry and backwardness, isn’t something most Americans will put up with for long. Many of them felt gagged and irritated, and Trump shrewdly named the thing that troubled them: political correctness. A lot of people fell for it. And in falling for it, they made two disastrous mistakes. First, by promoting political incorrectness as a remedy to the taboos they rightly detest, they gave us a man so loathsome as to make those taboos seem almost sensible. In the saddest irony of this deeply strange election year, Trump’s supporters have managed to enhance the credibility of political correctness: Given the choice between political correctness and the bigoted tirades of a dirty old man, I’ll take political correctness.

One more time, persons who complain of political correctness demand permission offend without penalty.

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, November 3.

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.

Via Job’s Anger.

Via C&L.

A Trump supporter meets the press.

Just read it. No summary or excerpt will do it justice.

I anticipate that my schedule today will be distressingly discombobulated.

Via C&L.

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

Since there’s been one Vice-Presidential and two Presidential “debate” since the last meeting, we should have plenty to talk about . . . .

When: Thursday, October 13, 6 p.

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

More here.

Via Raw Story.

Warning: Taste (there isn’t any).

My local rag profiles investigators who are using DNA and other advanced technologies to track down sources of water pollution. Here’s a bit:

After the qPCR results signaled bacteria excreted by humans in some of the Wayne Creek samples, Gonzalez and his team began the really hard work: trying to figure out where, in the miles of often-overlapping sewer and stormwater pipes, a leak or leaks had occurred.

They tested seven more times over the next six months, narrowing in on concentrations of HF183 – a genetic marker for bacteria specific to human waste – in a couple of connected legs of a stormwater line. The source trackers wondered whether septic tanks still in use by some homes might be at least partly to blame. But the largest hits were detected near one of the city’s sewage pump stations.

Could there be a break there?

Yes, it turned out.

“Privacy for me, but not for thee.”

Taking a breather.

Off to drink liberally.