2012 archive
Revolt of the Machines 0
First, they lull you into a sense of security, and then . . . .
About 80 percent of bridge strikes in New York state, where parkways with low overpasses are supposed to be closed to commercial traffic, are caused by GPS misdirection, Schumer said. Even if the roads are well-marked, GPS devices may not note restrictions on trucks and buses, he said.
Senator Schumer wants the government to update GPS technology.
In the meantime, maybe the truckers should consider supplementing their gadgets with a fallback technology.
I believe it’s called “road sign.”
Not the 47% 2
Chuck for explains that Mitt the Flip’s moment of honesty will have little impact in Wingnut World, since, for its inhabitants, the 47% is those other guys.
Support the Troops, Republican Style 0
It’s a three-part plan.
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1. Send them to war.
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2. Bring (at least most) of them home.
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3. Throw them away.
Via C&L.
Tagged, Obama Derangement Syndrone Dept. 0
In the Hamptons, no less. Gatsby’s playground.
Lawrence Nickel was collared last week by East Hampton cops in connection with a four-month probe of the vandalism, which “made derogatory references to President Obama and his policies.”
Words fail me.
For a Three-Hour Tour 0
StevenD guides you through RomneyWorld. Go along for the ride.
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Because it’s all they got.
The Party, Not the Person 2
It increasingly appears that the Republican Party is going to lose the presidential election and, indeed, may take down its Congressional candidates as collateral damage.
If that happens, Republican insiders will certainly argue that they lost because Mitt the Flip was not conservative enough. The Republican answer to every political failure seems to be that it was because they were not conservative enough. It generally is not an accurate answer, but it’s the only one they’ve got.
At the Guardian, Gary Younge points out that, actually, it’s not the person. It is the party. A nugget:
So when people wonder how Mitt Romney became the party’s standard-bearer they need to first remember just how low the standards were. To make sense within the Republican party was, almost by definition, to appear nonsensical outside it. More credible candidates took a look at what you’d have to say and do to compete and decided to sit the election out.
It is today’s QOTD writ large.
Republican Class Warfare 0
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Via C&L, which has additional commentary.
The Unbearable Lightness of Mitting 0
You just can’t get too much Richie Rich.
Oh, wait. Richie Rich was kind and likable.
This isn’t him.
Joking aside, I know that I and others are beating this to death.
I believe this is wholly justified. For the first time, after years of watching flips, we are getting a glimpse of a flipless Mitt, and, as Steven M. pointed out the other day, it ain’t pretty. A snippet from Steven M.’s post:
Video via AmericaBlog.
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
Whaddya want anyway? CH4 in your beer?
Facebook Frolics: Tech Bubble Redux 0
At MarketWatch, John Shinal takes a look at Facebook’s market flop and tries to find some lessons for investors.
He goes on to warn readers to beware the myth of the tech superstar. Otherwise, you might be zucked.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Busted for exporting politeness:
Also, be sure to train for politeness:
“He stepped off the tracks, turned around and was shot in the chest by an unknown assailant,” Chapman said. “He got back on the locomotive, and got on the radio and called for assistance.”
The Fee Hand of the Political Market 0
Jay Bookman wonders why the message of the market doesn’t resonate with the Republican Party:
But Mitt Romney, for all his faults, is not the problem. His campaign team is not the problem. . . .
The problem is not the salesman. The problem is the product that he is attempting to peddle.
Remember, if they lose again this year, the Republican presidential candidate will have won a plurality of votes just once in the last six cycles, dating all the way back to 1992. That sole victory was itself an historic anomaly, with George W. Bush riding the patriotic post-9/11 wave to a very narrow two-point margin over John Kerry in 2004. The market is trying to tell them something.
Two words explain the falling value of the GOP’s stock: Southern. Strategy.
They are running out of bigots.
Afterthought:
Not long ago, I saw a vehicle with one of those “Don’t Re-Nig” bumper stickers. “Okay,” I said to myself, “a racist.”
The racist part did not surprise me. The advertising-the-racism did, mildly. Generally, even racists try to hide it in public these days, and the bumper sticker is somewhat more overt than the more common act of plastering the vehicle with the stars and bars.
Recently, a reader of Leonard Pitts, Jr., also saw one of those bumper stickers and wrote Mr. Pitts about it. Pitts addressed it in his column. A snippet:
But they do not lie for our benefit. They lie to conscience — and to self.
Bonded by the iHype 0
The Denver Post explores how Apple ihypes its iJunk while herds of iJunkies line for their iFixes. You’d think it was a the holy iGrail.
“It’s fun, you meet new people and interact,” said the 21-year-old, who
Customers line up outside Park Meadows mall near Denver Friday morning in hopes of being among the first to snag an iPhone 5. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)
has also camped out for an iPad and basketball sneakers. “Just the sleep part is messed up.”(snip)
“We’re very social animals,” (Univ. of Colo. Professor Phil–ed.) Fernbach said. “When we see someone else doing something, we automatically infer from that that it might be a good thing to do.”
At the San Jose Mercury-News, Apple’s local rag, Larry Magid worries about whether the media are playing into Apple’s hype strategy: