2012 archive
Incentives to Imprison 0
From Raw Story:
There’s is something seriously morally bent here.
Little Ricky, Bedroom Cop 0
Dick Polman reminds us that Little Ricky doesn’t like how you have sex:
“One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before is, I think, the dangers of contraception in this country. It’s not OK. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”
(Link fixed.)
Facebook Frolics 0
One more time, the Internet is a public place. If it’s on the web, eventually someone’s going to see it.
Aside:
The sad aspect of these stories is that some the persons who got in trouble were not the ones who made the posts. Instead, their bad judgment was advertised through the bad judgment or sometimes the vindictiveness of others.
Greece 1
Atrios points out the obvious, so obvious it hardly ever gets mentioned.
The Greece bailout is not a bailout of Greece, it is a bailout of the banks who lent them money.
Bankstering is never having to say you’re sorry.
Stray Thought 0
Television, the power of babble.
Data Gags 0
The San Jose Mercury-News reports on Southwestern Bell’s Cingular’s AT&T’s throttling the data usage of persons using its unlimited data plan for iGadgets.
AT&T claims it is cracking down on the few data hogs who are ruining life for the rest of the world. But it looks like more than that.
Trang’s iPhone was throttled just two weeks into his billing cycle, after he’d consumed 2.3 gigabytes of data. He pays $30 per month for “unlimited” data. Meanwhile, Dallas-based AT&T now sells a limited, or “tiered,” plan that provides 3 gigabytes of data for the same price.
Users report that if they call the company to ask or complain about the throttling, AT&T customer support representatives suggest they switch to the limited plan.
The Entitlement Society 0
Charlie Booker wonders what bankster bonus babies actually do for all that money. A nugget:
RBS boss Stephen Hester, meanwhile, earns more than a million pounds for performing enigmatic actions behind the scenes at a publicly owned bank. And on top of his huge wage, he was in line for a massive bonus. To most people, that’s downright cheeky: like a man getting a (serviced–ed.) from your spouse while asking you to make him a cup of tea.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Teach your children that politeness is non-negotiable.
The reason for the etiquette lesson is not yet known.
The Politicization of Everything 0
Mike Littwin is taken aback by the attacks on the Chrysler commercial that aired during the Super Bowl:
This commercial is so good, I wrote, it almost makes me want to buy a Chrysler product.
Almost.
You see, I had missed what was apparently clear to many others. I thought the reason Chrysler had spent $13 million on this ad was to sell Chryslers. The reason I had reflexively come to this now-controversial conclusion was that every other Chrysler commercial I’d ever seen was about selling Chrysler products.
And, not to belabor the point, but every Ford commercial and every Chevy commercial and every Toyota commercial and every Honda commercial and every Kia-with-hip-hop-hamsters commercial I’d ever seen was about the same thing. I thought maybe I’d spotted a trend.
Follow the link to find out how wrong he was.
Q. What Do You Call Persons Who Use the Rhythm Method? 0
A. Parents.
Denying birth control coverage to persons is ultimately coercive.
Karen Heller comments on the Catholic Church’s renewed attempts to dictate the sexual habits, not just of Catholics, but also of non-Catholics who happen to work for an enterprise that receives financial support from the Catholic Church.
Face it, that’s what a “Catholic Hospital,” to pick one example, is–an enterprise.
It may be an enterprise with charitable intent, but I can tell you from personal experience that it’s open to the public, it employs non-Catholics, and it sends a bill when it’s done with you.
Twits on Twitter 0
I gather that there was another pointless, interminable, self-congratulatory awards ceremony last night.
Ex Party Lincoln 0
In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jackie Hogan considers how Abraham Lincoln would fit in with today’s Republican Party. The conclusion: Not a chance.
A snippet:
Strike Two: He didn’t advertise his faith. The debate over Lincoln’s religious beliefs is a heated one. But there is good evidence that he questioned Christian orthodoxy, perhaps not so surprising at a time when biblical verses were routinely used in defense of slavery (See Note–ed.), an institution he found morally repugnant. While it is true that Lincoln frequently evoked the Divine in his speeches, he never took up membership in a church, and certainly never spoke publicly about his personal relationship with Christ.
___________
Note: Sound familiar?
Tebow on the Knee 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., takes a look at the Tim Tebow fuss. After contrasting Tebow’s actions with what passes for normal amongst football players (grandstanding, hot-dogging, leg-breaking, and the like), he considers some of the reasons why Tebow’s actions have attracted so much attention.
He concludes that the reaction to Tim Tebow’s actions must be viewed within the context of those who debase faith (and the faithful) by using it (and them) to earthly ends:
Moreover, it becomes a whirl of God talk and God iconography, a cross as fashion statement, a WWJD bracelet, a football player kneeling on the field.
But that is faith externalized for public consumption, faith that runs the risk of being shiny and superficial. It doesn’t speak to the decisions we make, the people we are, when despair comes creeping into the midnight hour. Nor does it speak to any obligation toward the scabrous, the lost, the unwashed, the impoverished, the disgusted, the detested, the detestable. Indeed, those whose faith is most loudly externalized are often the ones most silent on that obligation.
Endless War 0
Steve Chapman discusses the efforts of the neocons and others who think bombs are always best to drum up another Great and Glorious War. A nugget:
(snip)
This panic requires a total disregard for everything we have learned during the nuclear age. Since World War II, assorted enemies and rivals have acquired nuclear stockpiles: the Soviet Union, China, Pakistan and North Korea. All of them have learned that they are useless as offensive weapons against other nuclear states and their allies.
___________________
*I don’t think it’s a prevailing wisdom among policymakers, but just among those who monger and hunger for war, but they are a vocal lot with the ear of the press.