2011 archive
Good News, Walmart Dept. 0
Lawyers announced the Arkansas-based retailer’s Wednesday in Orange County Circuit Court, where a judge had planned to hear more pretrial motions in a lawsuit challenging the project.
Wal-Mart had planned to build a 143,000-square-foot Supercenter near the site of the Battle of the Wilderness, which is viewed by historians as a critical turning point when the Civil War started to turn in favor of the North. An estimated 185,000 Union and Confederate troops fought over three days in 1864, and 30,000 were killed, injured or went missing. The war ended 11 months later.
Like the world needs another Walmart.
Twits on Twitter 0
Alex Beam wonders about the Library of Congress Twitter archive:
Now you could hear a pin drop.
Follow the link to see how many persons have twitted the article.
Next up: Archiving old “While You Were Out” phone messages–but only the pink ones.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Christmas help hits the streets. Not good.
A Labor Department official said snow in four southern states in previous weeks created a backlog of claims that were processed last week. While the economy has improved, it hasn’t been enough to reduce an unemployment rate that Federal Reserve policy makers said yesterday is too high and requires pressing ahead with a $600 billion stimulus plan.
Geek Cred 0
I know it is a silly thing to be excited about, but I am still excited about it.
I’ve made enough posts at LQ to qualify as a “Senior Member.”
Rep’s not bad either.
3,994 more posts and I get to be a “Guru.”
I think I got me some geek cred.
All joking aside, when I was first learning my way around Linux, LQ was indispensable to me. The folks there are quite tolerant of newbies and willing to answer questions, even when they are badly asked.
It is nice to be able to pay it forward.
SOTU 0
Or is that STFU? Never mind.
Funny or Die presents faces from last night’s kabuki performance.
Here’s one, captioned “Bachmann Getting Ready to Board the Crazy Train.”
Follow the link for the rest.
Well, Frats Always Claim To Be Service Organizations 0
Though when I was in college, the primary service they provided appeared to be bar service. Now it’s community service.
Centre County Judge Thomas King Kistler has also ordered Alpha Tau Omega to pay a $500 fine.
Never joined a frat. Couldn’t see the point of paying dues to get drunk when I could get drunk quite nicely on my own, thank you.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 1
Courtesy: the glue that holds families together:
The father, who apparently shot his adult son and then turned the .22 rifle to his own head, is in “grave” condition, according to Undersheriff Margie Martinez. It is likely the injuries will be fatal.
More guns means more courtesy.
Room with a Pay-per-View 0
Marriott is phasing out the pay-per-view porn channels in its hotels. Pundits are speculating it has something to do with Mitt “Shape-Shifter” Romney’s desire to morph himself into something that gets votes.
In the political punditocracy, everything must be political, even when it isn’t, just as in the business punditocracy, everything must affect stock prices, even when it doesn’t.
It is really quite a stretch–indeed, it’s fanciful–to speculate that Romney’s aspirations have influenced Marriott’s hotel, er, amenities simply because Romney and the Marriott family are both LDS.
I believe Marriott’s public statement. Internet porn has won out over hotel porn and there ain’t no money in $10.00+ (or whatever it is these days) pay-per-view no more.
(snip)
A coalition of Christian organizations that includes Focus on the Family met with Marriott International officials in Washington in 2008 to press the hotel chain to stop offering pay-per-view adult movies.
Marriott did not take action following those meetings. On Monday, it said the recent decision was based on economics and technology. More guests can access adult content cheaply on their portable devices rather than pay for premium adult channels.
QOTD 0
Virginia Woolf, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
It is harder to kill a phantom than a reality.
Spill Here, Spill Now, Testify Later 0
Facing South reports on the Buccaneer Petroleum oil spill commission. A nugget:
Reilly confessed that he started his work on the commission with prejudice, thinking the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster was likely the result of an isolated screw-up by BP given the company’s troubled safety history. But the commission instead found that the disaster was the consequence of what Reilly repeatedly criticized as the oil industry’s “culture of complacency.”
“We have just paid a huge price for the inattention and complacency,” he said.
Bachmann History Spurner in Overdrive 2
Republicans must make stuff up about our history because the facts indict their beliefs and policies:
Via TPM.
Facebook Frolics 0
Oh, for the good old days, when teepeeing someone’s front yard was the be all and end all.
Actually, the most ambitious stunt I remember was when some of my classmates stole an outhouse–yes, some country folk still had outhouses back then–and left it in someone’s driveway. Never did find out whose privacy they spirited away.
“All those calls resulted in a police response,” Dalton said.
On Oct. 16, the teen called 911 and reported that a gunman had shot and slashed several people at the Telford Inn on Route 45. Some people were dead, he said, and others were injured. There was a “massive response” as authorities from more than five jurisdictions flooded the area, closing down the normally busy highway shortly after 4 p.m.
On Oct. 18, Harrison Township police learned about the Clearview threats on Facebook and turned to the prosecutor’s High-Tech Crime Unit for assistance.
The teen faces seven charges, including bias intimidation, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy.
Net Neutrality 0
Shaun Mullen lays out the issue as clearly as can be. A nugget:
Comcast, for its part, has twice been caught red handed trying to choke off peer-to-peer traffic. It backed off both times, but is now suing the FCC for the right to control the Internet tap as it sees fit. And lurking in the background is the aforementioned threat to innovation.
Cable companies, phone companies, and other providers of the internet connection pipelines are utilities and should be treated as such.
Their job–and charges–should begin and end with making sure the pipes are working. End of story.
Sideshow 0
Having Republicans and Democrats sit side-by-side to hear the state of the union address is one of the sillier sideshows in this very new Congress.
Joanna Weiss envisions non-Congressional side-by-sides at the Boston Globe (registration nag screen may appear). A nugget:
Prediction: Oprah breathes deeply, sobs openly, and proclaims that the speech has given her a deeper understanding of her essential self. Palin posts an anti-Obama diatribe on her Facebook page and tweets: “Collabination is for wimps.’’
Sark of the Day 0
John Kass in the Chicago Trib:
Rahm Emanuel as a poor innocent victim of ruthless insider Chicago politics?
’nuff said.
Twits on Twitter 0
Phil Sheridan is writing about a football game. His words have wider application:
I wonder about the “genius” part.
Twitter is the pet rock of communications technology.
Facebook is its Cabbage Patch Kid.
(All that guff about “Twitter Revolutions” says more about media’s masturbatory fascination with gadgets than it does about Real Life.)
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
The question:
(Follow the link for examples of politeness.)
The belief that more guns equals less crime is a faith-based creed.
Facts cannot sway its believers, despite the evidence of things seen.