First Looks category archive

On a cellphone tower across from the North Dade Justice Center on Biscayne Boulevard, behind a Nails 4 U and Dream Brows, a rare South Florida construction project is underway.

Two bald eagles are building a nest.

Picture at the link.

Off to drink liberally.

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

When: Thursday, March 12th, 6 p.

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

More here.

Recently, I read a column that asserted that GoFundMe and similar online fundraising sites have fostered a phenomena which the columnist referred to as “suburban begging”: persons’ asking for money just because they can. The author’s primary evidence was the potato salad caper, which is sooooo last year.

I can’t find the original (if I do, I shall link it up), but the second letter in today’s agony column suggests that the columnist was onto something.

This surprises no one who pays attention to the antics of hedge fund managers, politicians, Wall Street banksters, mongers of war, mega-church ministers, or Silicon valley execs (emphasis added):

Depressing news from the world of psychology: Nearly every stereotype about the gender gap with regards to narcissism, ambition and leadership is right.

That’s according to a study in the March issue of the Psychological Bulletin, the journal of the American Psychological Association. In a review of three decades of survey data from nearly half a million participants, researchers found that men are more likely to demonstrate narcissistic behavior than women, regardless of generation or age.

Details at the link.

This morning on Virginia’s Northern Neck.

H/T to my brother for the pic.

Shaun Day explains “ethics” (or at least legislation) on one situation do not lead to “ethics” (or at least legislation) on the other situation(s). A snippet:

Lawmakers have made a bipartisan effort over the years to protect incumbents, particularly those who’ve served for decades, and their respective party’s hold on that seat.

This year’s bipartisan ethics reform bill focused strictly on one component of ethics in government — restricting gifts to elected officials — while ignoring two others that are critically important: redistricting and campaign finance.

Events.

Thoreau notices an absence.

One of my friends in the radio biz talked about pro-AUMF guests being pushed at her. I asked, “Are you also getting anti-war guests pushed and promoted to you?” She wasn’t.

I’ve pointed out this issue before many times, not all experts are created equal. Not all messages have a well-funded team pushing them. I’ve asked in several forums. “Who are the anti-war go to guests? Why aren’t they in the conversations? What will it take to get them in the conversations?”

Sunrise on a snowy morning at my brother’s place on Virginia’s Northern Neck.

Fetish wear for ammosexuals.

How long before some bozo wearing this gets his stupid self shot?

In his Roadshow column, the San Jose Mercury-News’s Gary Richards remembers Burma Shave signs.

Be polite in the presence of the dropsies:

The injured man and another man were both on the scene. Both men said the shooting was an accident. The reported they were looking at a gun, it was dropped and it went off.

H/T Susan for the pic.

See the full-sized image

. . . an anonymous donor just buoyed it (the S. S. United States–ed.) with $250,000.

“We’re singing from the rooftops – or whatever a maritime version of that would be,” Susan Gibbs, executive director of the SS United States Conservancy, said yesterday.

The massive ship (it’s as long as the Comcast Center is tall) remains docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River. The owners constantly stave off the threat of the ship being scrapped. The monthly maintenance costs stand around $80,000.

Gibbs believes that donations like this could spur more of the same.

Via Sampler, an image site (some images NSFW).

Via Job’s Anger.

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

When: Thursday, February 5, 6 p.

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

More here.

A will-ful twit.