2011 archive
Brendan Asks a Question 0
Inquiring minds want to know.
Unintended Consequences 0
Heh. From The Smoking Gun:
Documents at the link.
Birther of a Nation 0
James Carroll, writing at the Boston Globe, examines the DNA in the birth of birthers. A nugget:
Facebook Frolics 0
Facebook as The Man?
(Frankly, Facebook’s explanation sounds double-talky.)
Via Mr. Feastingonroadkill.
Clown Shoes 0
Oh, yes, please.
“In my mind, I have already decided,” Trump, 64, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I am going to announce. But I can’t do anything until the show ends.”
QOTD 0
The Duke of Wellington, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Wise people learn when they can; fools learn when they must.
The President’s Announcement 0
“We will be relentless in the defense of our citizens . . . .”
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I give President George W. Bush credit for a gracious statement.
On Royal Weddings 0
Mr. Feastingonroadkill pretty much sums it up.
Food Flight 0
From El Reg:
(snip)
The store’s owner, Glenn Miller, told the Waikato Times that 24 people stocked up during the unscheduled opening hours.
Half of those used the self-scanning kit to pay for their goods. The other dirty dozen took advantage of the assistant-less zombie store to help themselves, with the police arriving after receiving a report of people making off with truckloads of groceries.
Afterthought:
The heartening bit is that half the folks paid for their purchase.
Also, Glenn Miller.
Trump Roasted 0
The good part starts about six minutes in (warning: 15 second commericial at beginning) (CNN clip replaced to get rid of the commercial.):
Via Zandar.
Conspiring Minds Want To Know 0
Mike Littwin of the Denver Post offers some theories about why conspiracy theories seem so popular amongst certain segments of the American populace. A nugget:
But what is true is that we understood exactly what the announcer meant. It was the ’50s and dissent was frowned upon. But even if you were a skeptic, you knew what the stakes were.
Now, there’s truth and there’s truth. This is, on balance, a good thing. We have more ways to get at the truth — and therefore more ways to understand it. But it’s not all good. If we doubt all our institutions — and the polls say we do — what do we share? If there’s a democratization of truth, it has to mean more than reading one article on climate science and thinking you’re qualified to deconstruct the work of a scientist who’s spent his entire life studying it.
There Are None So Blind . . . 0
Cynthia Tucker, writing at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, illustrates how folks refuse to see what’s going on around them.
In this case, she’s considering Haley Barbour’s inability to see the racist undertones of many of his public statements; she tells a story to illustrate her point that he has an excuse for not knowing how to behave in public:
I was stunned by her certitude, her arrogance and her lack of compassion. But I didn’t believe her response was born of flat-out racism. It was born of a willful ignorance — an unwillingness to confront the truth about a system in which she was complicit.
Nor do I believe Barbour is racist. But he showed the same blindness my piano tutor did — an inability to empathize with Jim Crow’s victims. Given his state’s history, that’s no minor failing.
I am not nearly so charitable.
In the case of the old lady from Ms. Tucker’s youth, I can accept this argument, at least somewhat.
When you grow up and live inside a system that seems immutable, you tend to accept that system.
Jim Crow seemed quite normal to me when I was seven years old.
In the case of Mr. Barbour (and many others like him), not so much. He has lived to see the system change (though much more change is needed).
In his case, not only is ignorance no excuse, ignorance is inexcusable.
Fright of the Sea Hawk 0
Storms, wind and driving rain are most often to blame for power outages in coastal Virginia.
But osprey nests?
Dominion Virginia Power says a large nest, made from straw, reeds and sticks, and resting on transmission lines along Northampton Boulevard, caused a 90-minute blackout Thursday night that affected more than 12,000 homes.
Be honest now.
Haven’t you always harbored a secret desire to give the electric company the bird?
When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, ospreys (AKA “sea hawks,” sometimes “sea eagles”) were rare. The article goes on to point out that their population has rebounded since DDT was banned in the 1970s.
They build large nests at the very top of dead trees. And what is a light pole other than a man-made dead tree?
One of the pleasures of boating is seeing ospreys in flight as they hunt.
Occasionally, though they prefer not to, the electric company puts a platform on top of light poles so that ospreys can nest there safely above the transformers. Follow the link to see a picture of one such platform.