June, 2011 archive
Zombinomics 1
Writing as “Spengler” at Asia Times, David P. Goldman is gloomy. A nugget:
Read the whole thing, then go have a drink. Or four.
A Tacking Cyclists 0
This is just bizarre:
The cyclists suffered flat after flat caused by the tacks along Muddy Creek and Charity Neck roads on their Saturday morning route, participants said. Two riders skinned their knees and elbows, said Jack Kenley, another cyclist.
The natives appear to be restless.
I have my beefs with some bicyclists, particularly the ones who run full stops, ride on the wrong side of the road, and go the wrong way on one-way streets. But I have a bigger beef with random vandalism.
Facebook Frolics, Perry Mason Dept. 0
It’s probably best not to violate one’s duty as a juror at a place that is basically a humongous database that is designed to remember everything for as long as advertisers want it remembered.
London’s High Court heard that Joanne Fraill, 40, contacted Jamie Sewart, 34, who had already been acquitted in a drugs trial costing £6m in Manchester.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
August J. Pollack is puzzled:
Click through to see his comic for the week.
Stray Thought 0
I don’t think that the NRCC will be wasting my time on the telly phone again.
Fumbles 0
The long-term injuries to NFL football players are becoming more noticeable.
The Denver Post reports that an insurance company and the Denver Broncos are headed to court over who’s responsible for workers comp payments to retired players claiming disability due to their football careers.
Note that the insurance company is not trying to disqualify the claims; it’s arguing that the team, rather than the insurance company, should pay.
“Your memory isn’t what it used to be,” Little said. “You don’t sleep as well as you should. I still suffer from the injuries during my career.”
Now his claim, along with claims by eight other retired Broncos players, has become entangled in a federal lawsuit by an insurance company that says it shouldn’t have to pay.
Little was one of the lucky ones, at least in football terms–a big star with a long career and many honors. The average pro football career is less than four years and the retirement benefits are surprisingly miserly.
Tell me again why I should sympathize with the billionaire owners who use the players so callously.
More about Floyd Little.
We Need Single Payer 0
Jay Bookman of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution debunks the lie that competition will magically reduce the cost of health care to consumers.
Here’s one of his charts. Follow this link to read the article.
Facebook Frolics 0
The novelty is wearing off. From the Guardian:
That means the site’s growth has slowed for the second month in a row, even as it approaches 700 million users worldwide.
In the US the site lost about 6 million users, from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at its end, according to data gathered from Facebook’s advertising tool by the site Inside Facebook.
Canada fell by 1.52 million to 16.6 million and the UK, Norway and Russia all saw falls of more than 100,000 users, the site said.
Cavalcade of Spots 0
At Tampa Bay dot com, columnist Don Wright has prepared a medley of politicians’ apologies for bad behavior, complete with footnotes.
It is most delightful how they all flow together into one mind-numbing procession of puerile phrase-mongering.
No excerpt. Just hop over there and have a look.
“Everything You Know Is Wrong” 0
Peter Bergman distinguishes between what is and what isn’t going on:
What is going on is a simultaneous crises in our economy, our environment and our health care and education systems. Wise minds have warned of this gathering storm for decades, but the American public would rather go Dancing With The Stars than Dealing With The Facts.
Follow the link. It’s a delicious, reality-based rant.
Time To Declare Victory and Come Home 0
Eugene Robinson:
Making progress is hard, Crocker said, but not hopeless.
Not hopeless.
What on earth are we doing? We have more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan risking life and limb, at a cost of $10 billion a month, to pursue ill-defined goals whose achievement can be imagined, but just barely?
“Because we are already there” is not a good reason to stay.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Flop this house:
When the lender agrees to take the lower price, the agent purchases the property in his name or that of a straw buyer and immediately flips the property to an honest-to-goodness buyer-in-waiting at a higher price than the one negotiated with the lender, with the difference split between the participants.
The whole damn economy seems to be based on fraud.
Much more at the link.
Two Hits, One Error 2
Typing closed captions for a live television show must be quite challenging. Mistakes can be forgiven.
But sometimes they make one laugh. Watching the Phillies and the Cubs on WGN.
Announcer, discussing the Cubs pitching woes:
. . . and they haven’t even gotten to the All-Star break.
Caption:
. . . and they haven’t even gotten to the All-Star briquet.