January, 2013 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” (Updated, Kicked to the Top) 0
You can’t make this stuff up:
They can’t even be trusted amongst their own kind.
Follow the link for the inventory.
Addendum:
Noz explains what it means.
Beach Blanket Bingo, Sports Palace Dept. 0
Here’s how it works.
Rich guy wants to buy a plaything, say, the Sacramento Kings.
Rich guy decides he wants a new playpen for his plaything, but, being a rich guy, he doesn’t want to spend his own money for it. After all, he’s a rich guy who blesses the world by his very existence. He deserves tribute to his awesome awesomeness for being.
Rich guy hires consultants to gin up reports claiming that, if all the poor guys teamed up to pay for his playpen, the poor guys would abracadabra no longer be poor, or, at least, not quite so poor.
Paying for his new playpen will cause fantastickal mystickal magickal dust to rain from the sky, transforming all it touches.
So governors and mayors and city councils, which are generally made up of not-poor guys who owe tribute to rich guys, decide that the poor guys will buy the rich guy a new playpen.
This is called “having a vision.”
Spin forward ten or fifteen years.
The only dust is construction dust.
The rich guys are still rich, the poor guys are even poorer and still paying for the playpen, which somehow failed to provide the boon promised in those forgotten consultant reports.
This is called “history.”
The rich guy decides the playpen is too old; he needs a new, bigger, better playpen.
This is called “history repeats itself.”
It’s happening right here in River City.
What happens if the poor guys catch on?
In Birmingham, the mayor is having trouble persuading city councilors to chip in more money for a new downtown stadium for the region’s minor league baseball team, the Barons.
The outcry suggests public opinion is catching up with research that casts doubt on claims that the investments are a good deal for taxpayers because they create jobs and foster economic activity. Lack of statewide support also reflects urban-rural political divides: Voters far from city centers don’t believe they benefit from the deals.
Will the poor guys catch on, or will they be overwhelmed by a phoney-baloney numbers and by a fascination with large men with small balls?
One certainty is that the rich guy will not give up, because, by God, the poor guys owe him for the awesome awesomeness of his being.
A Picture Is Worth 0
From a study by the Combatting Terrorism Center of the United States Military Academy:
Conservatives are claiming that the report is biased, apparently because it’s based on facts and numbers and stuff that actually happened.
Football uber Alles 0
A nugget from Bob Molinaro, at my local rag:
“Amateur” athletes coached by bonus babies.
Elizabeth River 0
Yesterday, I happened to be on the 14th floor of an office building in downtown Norfolk. While I was waiting for my appointment, I enjoyed the view.
Afghanistanization 0
In the San Jose Mercury-News, Jason Dempsey asks,
Follow the link to find out why he asks.
Sicko Semper Tyrannis 0
Reg Henry takes on gun nuts’ pretzel logic. A snippet:
But if guns were used in an effort to overthrow a tyrannical government, guess who the enemy would be? Why, those same men and women of the Armed Forces marching under that same grand old flag. The president, if a reminder is needed, is their commander in chief.
(snip)
. . . the word “tyrant” has been devalued and dumbed down to the point of meaninglessness. What we have is a government that some people don’t like . . . .
Elsewhere, PoliticalProf considers the properties of gunnuttery.
The Voter Fraud Fraud (Updated) 0
Darryl Lease, in my local rag, excoriates the Republican gut-out-the-vote efforts.
No summary or excerpt can do it justice. Just read it.
Addendum, Early That Same Evening:
In related gut-out-the-vote news, in Florida:
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
A “Well-Regulated” Militia 0
Thom covers the politics of the origins of the Second Amendment.
It was all about fear of slave revolts.
Watch a follow-up discussion here. (It gets lively at about the eight minute mark.)
See additional comment at Bob Cesca’s place.
Chattel slavery is America’s original sin. It stains us still.
Overfill 2
When I go to a restaurant, I often eschew the entrees to make a meal from appetizers.
This indicates why:
Via PoliticalProf.
Parable 0
SLANTblog has a slant on Congress.