First Looks category archive

Mastering the universe on more is

The Freedom State Bank, Freedom, Oklahoma.

All gone.

Off to drink liberally.

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Steven M. explains how the Rand Design plays out in real life. A nugget:

Randian teabaggers think everything to do with money functions the way it does in the windy pronouncements of their favorite sci-fi novelist. They think every time you add more freedom!, things become more dynamic, and smart upstarts get empowered at the expense of the entrenched. I’m looking at the reality: over here, online-video category killer YouTube, a part of the death star known as Google, is cutting deals with the major music labels and threatening to keep independent labels off YouTube completely, thus depriving them of significant ad revenue. So the monopolistic subsidiary of a monopolistic company is playing favorites with the oligopolistic portions of the music business — which now has three major companies, down from six when I was a lad, after those six bought up the independent labels that had helped make jazz, R&B, and rock into yultural phenomena.

Earth to Randians: this is how capitalism works. This is how money works. Things don’t become sclerotic because of jackbooted government totalitarianism — they become sclerotic because the powerful work hard to keep themselves powerful, at the expense of upstarts.

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

When: Thursday, June 26nd, 6 p.

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

More here.

We are a stupid society.

Citing concerns from constituents, an Arizona lawmaker has called for a hearing next week to address chemtrails over her desert community, according to HavasuNews.com.

State Sen. Kelli Ward called the public meeting, to be held at the Board of Supervisors Auditorium in Kingman, Arizona, saying she had heard from “a lot” of constituents who feel that their concerns over the possible effects of chemtrails on the weather and on their blood chemistry are not being taken seriously.

Really, folks, there’s no there there. The stupid part is not that folks fall for this stuff–one born every minute and so on–it’s that an elected official incongruously assembled thinks they deserve a hearing.

You aren’t doing the following, Facebook is, reports Troy Wolverton. A nugget:

Earlier this month, the dominant social network announced that it’s altering the way it determines which ads to show users of its site. In the past, the company based its ad choices on what users were doing on Facebook — what pages they liked, what links they clicked on.

Now, in addition to using that data, the company will also be taking into account the things users do online or on their smartphones outside of Facebook’s website and apps. So if Facebook sees you shopping for laxatives at an online drugstore, visiting an adult-themed site or using an exercise app to track your workouts, it might use that information to serve up ads while you’re on Facebook.

Read the rest, then learn how to protect yourself from the Watcher at your Windows.

Of course, the best protection is to clear your cache and cookies, then never log onto Facebook again. If the Octopus has dug too deep in your life to do that, the next best option is go to Facebook only in a private tab* in a secure browser; the private tab segregates Facebook’s tracking cookies and automatically deletes them when you close it. A web search will reveal other, more cumbersome options (Live CDs, sandboxes).

___________________

*I chose this link because it was the most inclusive one I found. It is somewhat dated, but still fundamentally accurate.

What Noz said.

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

When: Wednesday, June 18th, 6 p.

Where:
Hair of the Dog Eatery
4000 Virginia Beach Blvd, Ste 120 (Loehmann’s Plaza)
Virginia Beach, VA (map)

More here.

Biker madness.

Just down the road a piece:

Shortly before 3 p.m., police and Animal Control responded after someone reported a black bear on the beach in the 3300 block of Ocean Shore Ave., near the Lesner Bridge.

There’s a new twit in town.

Shaun Mullen explains how the Supreme Court, instead of resolving issues, has turned to creating and perpetuating them.

Just read it.

Via Job’s Anger.

Bridezillas.

Another picture from my brother in Virginia’s Northern Neck:

“Car Float” is railroad for a barge used to convey railroad cars across water. It’s not something that automobiles do.

It looks like Rosie won’t be getting her driver’s license any time soon.

The 5-month-old German shepherd puppy stepped on the gas and sent her owner’s car careening into a pond in Canton Sunday morning, Canton police said.

After a walk with her owner, the puppy climbed back into the car and got her leash tangled in the gear shift. While trying to break free, Rosie fell on the accelerator, sending the vehicle flying forward, police said.

Addendum:

My friend thinks that the insurance company will refuse to pay because this was an “Act of Dog.”

Even dogs know that.

Via Tuxjam.