Too Venal for Words category archive
Willful Ignorance 0
Dick Polman comments on Donald Trump’s council of climate change charlatans who claim that climate change cannot be, but, if it is, it’s benign and beneficial.
A snippet:
In related news, my local rag today had a long article about how rising sea levels are devastating rural coastal communities.
Inquiring Minds, Busted Dept. 0
Shaun Mullen digs deep into the National Inquirer’s attempt to extort Jeff Bezos.
(I use the term “extort” advisedly.)
Afterthought:
Although I use Amazon from time to time, I’m not a big fan of Jeff Bezos and his attempt to assimilate American retail.
I must commend him, though, for standing up to sleazeballs.
“The Bible Tells Me So . . . .” 0
The Las Vegas Sun concedes that Sarah Huckabee Sanders may have a point in stating that God wanted Donald Trump to be the American President. It examines the evidence. Here’s a bit:
- Plague of fiery hail. What is Trump’s Twitter account if not the modern, digital version of this form of torture?
- Plagues of flies and lice. See Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, the Mooch, etc.
Follow the link for more witness.
The Wall-Eyed Piker and Emerging Emergencies 0
Elie Mystal is deeply disturbed at how cavalierly the press and public is treating the talk that Donald Trump might declare a national emergency so as to foist his stupid wall on the polity. An excerpt; follow the link for the rest (emphasis added).
I commend the complete post to your attention.
David Delves into the Dinar Dodge 0
Normally, I would not post something like this.
But I know first-hand someone who buys into this sort of stuff (and you probably do too)–someone who should know better, but will believe obscure Youtube videos and web sites on the back roads and woodland paths of the inner webs before he would believe the handwriting on the wall, even if he himself had seen the moving finger having writ it.
The Rich Are Different from You and Me 0
The have money. Here’s an example:
Texas, like Virginia, is a two-license-plate state. The Austin, Texas, Statesman reports that someone wants to change all that, but only if you have the wherewithalls.
Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian (a small town in the Texas panhandle—ed.), is pushing House Bill 673, which adds one category to the current list of vehicles exempt from the front-plate requirement. In addition to “a road tractor, a motorcycle, a trailer, (and) a semitrailer,” King wants to add “luxury passenger car” to section 504.943 of the Texas Transportation Code.
Why? Because a constituent with a fancy car asked him to. If you can’t do stuff for constituents with fancy cars, who can you do stuff for?
Food for Naught 0
Farron discusses how the Trumpian temper tantrum is starting to take food out of the mouths of the hungry.
Honest to Pete, this is the Presidency of mean for the sake of mean.
IoT = “Internet of Targets” 0
In a demonstration of the wonders of internet connected everything . . . .
(snip)
After many panicked minutes and phone calls to 911 and to Nest, the couple learned they likely were the victims of a hacker. And that panic turned to anger when they found out that Nest knew that there had been a number of such incidents — none involving nuclear strike scenarios — but failed to alert customers. Lyons said a Nest supervisor told them Sunday they likely were the victims of a “third party hack” that gained access to their camera and its speakers. The company did not return a request for comment Monday.
One more time, “because you can” is not in and of itself a sufficient reason for doing something.
Much more at the link.
Suffer the Children 0
Donald Trump’s government shutdown is now taking food out of the mouths of children.
Vance County Schools officials announced on Facebook late Tuesday that lunch menus “have been revised to a minimum level to conserve food and funding” starting Jan. 21. The county is about 50 miles northeast of Durham, along the Virginia state line.
More at the link.
Follow the Money 0
Trump’s political appointees will get raises as federal employees furloughed during the Trump shutdown suffer.
Hatred in the Workplace: A Cavalcade of Craven 0
Over at Above the Law, Richard B. Cohen corrals a flock of work-place discrimination and harassment cases. It’s worse than I could have imagined.
Here’s a bit; follow the link for the herd.
And there were death threats. Death threats! In the workplace!
An assistant manager allegedly told him, “We will hang you. We will seriously lynch you if you call in again this week.” And another asked him if he was “ready to commit suicide,” and even offered him “assistance” if he wanted to do it.
Yes — he was fired.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Juanita Jean is on the case.
The “One Drop” Rule 0
Honest to Pete, you can’t make this stuff up.