February, 2012 archive
“I Never Saw a Purple Cow . . . .” 2
From the Inky:
Before long, the squirrel came back and found itself trapped.
“Even the inside of its ears were purple,” Percy Emert said Thursday.
QOTD 0
James A. Michener, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
I am terrified of restrictive religious doctrine, having learned from history that when men who adhere to any form of it are in control, common men like me are in peril.
Sauce for the Goose 0
Proposed amendment to yet another anti-woman bill in the Oklahoma Senate:
More at the Guardian, but I think that’s ’nuff said.
Perpetuating (the Notion of) Difference 1
Chauncey Devega, in a typically long post on a different issue, turns the tables with this nugget:
The Future of Black Politics issue (of the Boston Review–ed.) has the following question on its cover: Is Black Politics Good for America? My response to such inquiries has always been, “is white politics good for America?”* As a student of black politics I am always suspicious when “our” concerns are racialized, and those of other folks taken to be “normal” or “mainstream.” That assumption explains so much about the challenges which face black and brown communities in the 21st century. I remain puzzled that it has not been more thoroughly interrogated.
The same could be said about every issue relating to persons marginalized or viewed as “different” from stereotypical white-bread Americans. Such reasoning makes the “out” group, whoever it is, appear more out, more strange, more different, more somehow inhuman. It’s how you turn other persons into a “Them.”
For instance, I give you this article by Dick Polman.
______________________
*Based on the evidence of things seen, no.
Organizing for Americans 2
Everybody Choose Up Sides 0
Hadley Freeman, writing at the Guardian, discusses the politicization of everything. A nugget:
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
If this keeps up, we might just maybe have a trend:
(snip)
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits rose by 64,000 in the week ended Jan. 28 to 3.52 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments increased by about 18,650 to 3.5 million in the week ended Jan. 21.
Nose, Face 0
If lawyers ever wonder why their profession has a bad name, they need look no further than stories like this:
Nope, never happened, except in the United States, Austria, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil, The Phillipines, Australia, New Zeal . . . .
Nope. Never.
QOTD 0
Franklin D. Roosevelt, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.
Break Time 2
Off to drink liberally.
Meta: Spam Comments 0
Trying to reduce the number of spam comments I have to delete every day, I have just set the blog to automatically close comments on any post older than 14 days, since a goodly number of spam comments are applied to older posts.
Persons wishing to comment on older posts are welcome to email me using the “Email” link at the top of the sidebar.
Little Ricky in a Come-Back 2
Then again, you can’t come back if you’ve never been there.
Dick Polman looks at yesterday’s meaningless (that is, no delegates at stake) contests:
Today’s fun trivia question: Which Republican presidential candidate has won the most contests?
Answer: Rick Santorum (4).
Is this an un-Mitt-igated disaster for the Boy from Bain? Follow the link for what comes next.
Dulcet Tones 2
I have a new podcast up at HPR.
Aside:
I love the “long-awaited” in the description. It was submitted quite a while ago and was pushed back in the schedule because of more time-sensitive submissions–and that was good.
Under HPR practice, first submissions by new hosts take precedence and HPR’s quest for new hosts has been paying off big-time.
You too can be a host. You don’t even need a recorder; you can phone it in to USA +1-206-312-5749 or UK +44-203-432-5879 (follow the link for instructions).
“Facts Are What People Think” 0
From the artist:
In the Rightwingoverse, doubt must be cast upon facts, science, and basic reality, in order to sustain an otherwise unsustainable ideology.
Click for a larger image.
Question of the Day 0
Karen Heller wants to know
Why are we always fighting about women’s bodies, and never about those of men?
Droning On 0
Might the laws of war (aside: it is to laugh) apply to raining anonymous death from the skies?
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
MarketWatch explains why banks are starting to embrace short sales, after resisting them since the bottom fell out of their mortgage Ponzi scheme:
And it’s about time. After all, the economics of short sales work. Bank losses on such deals are 15% lower than on typical foreclosures and short sales are quicker, according to Moody’s. Now, one out of every three homes facing foreclosure is in a short sale process, up from one in four a year ago.
It takes financial geniuses with MBAs four years to realize that some money is better than no money.