February, 2013 archive
Days of Future Past 0
Harold Jackson remembers growing up black in Birmingham, Alabama, during the demonstrations, and has this moment of deja vu (emphasis added).
The resulting bad publicity after the world press reported the story in articles, photographs, and film was too much for a city that once had hopes of competing with Atlanta to become the commerce center of the South. City officials signed what Connor called the “lyingest, face-saving” document he had ever seen – an agreement to remove “Whites Only” signs, integrate lunch counters, and hire black clerks at department stores.
Those modest gains were too much for segregationists who, like some people today when it comes to gun control, saw any concession as the first step down the slippery slope to total surrender. The agreement was signed May 10, 1963. That night, bombs were set off at the home of King’s brother, A.D. King, and at the black-owned Gaston Motel, where King had stayed during the Birmingham campaign.
Read the rest, especially if you are too young to remember those days.
Afterthought:
You do realize, of course, that there is significant overlap between the populations of the “segregationists” (as they were known then) and the gun nuts.
Driving while Black . . . 0
. . . is prima facie evidence of guilt:
The cop nevertheless filed some sort of trumped up charge against him which seems to boil down to
When I said “jump,” he didn’t ask “How high?”
Afterthought:
Pretty much all I know about M. C. Hammer as a performer, other than that he was one of the early rappers and a phenomenal success, is that he had a cute cartoon show for kids.
A web search tells me that a lot of persons think it was not very good, but First Son enjoyed it a lot. Frankly, it could not possibly have been worse than most of the Hanna-Barbara shows from the late 70s and 80s, which had all the production values of a Graham cracker.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Kelly Trumbull waxes poetic.
Shell Game 0
I crossed this bridge just last week.
When we were kids visiting our grandmother in South Carolina, the Gilmerton Bridge was a sign that we were almost home.
Its unusual design, high lift towers, and view of the harbor made crossing it almost a blast.
Construction crews called 911 at 7:45 a.m. – morning rush hour – and the bridge that spans the Elizabeth River was sealed off to traffic until 3:45 p.m.
Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians responded to the scene and found three inert artillery shells about 15 inches long, said Capt. Scott Saunders, a Fire Department spokesman. . . . .
Almost a blast.
The Return of the Witchhunters 0
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The irony is that pretty much everyone has noticed that Communism is dead, dead, dead.
The Republican Party contains the only persons interested in keeping it alive.
They’ve long known that scared people don’t think clearly. That’s why they like scaring people. Q. E. D.
Book ‘Em, Dano 0
I have a code in de dose.
Looking for something to listen to as I lay on my back too wiped out even to achieve Enlightenment with Slackware (I’m preparing a podcast on E17), I finally visited LibriVox; I had heard of the site, but not visited it.
It is the Project Gutenberg of audio books. (Oh, yes, Gutenberg also has audiobooks. They work with Librivox, among others.)
I listened to part of this last night; it started slow, but then picked up nicely. (I’m a mystery buff. Not suspense. Not adventure. Mystery, which ideally opens with the body on the library floor and closes with the Great Detective explaining the solution in that same library.)
Check out LibriVox. And if you have never visited Project Gutenberg, now is the time.
Cantor’s Cant 0
The Commander Guy has the latest.
Driving while Brown 0
Apparently, La Migra didn’t think a Palestinian was capable of earning an Oscar nomination.
Michael Moore publicized the situation and eventually facilitated the director’s release.
Moore at the link.
Susie Sampson’s Hack Report 0
Excerpt:
The Bible never talked about science!
News, Ripped from the Ticker 0
In worst taste than usual.
I recommend skipping the first two and a half minutes and going directly to the bit on the Pennsylvania Lottery (which can be generalized to the country-wide Republican efforts to sell off public assets for short-term gain).
Probing the Republican War on Women 0
State rape remains a favorite fantasy of old white men.
Many years ago, I sat in the bar of the Midland Hotel in Chicago, which was my preferred roost in Chicago back when I was a road warrior. Near me, two Sears employees (the Sears Tower was about two blocks away) were talking about rumors of lay-offs.
As they paid their tab, one of them said, “No matter what, I won’t go back to Indiana.”
As near as I can tell, this sort of stuff explains why.
What It Was, Was Football 0
Up Philly way, there’s kerfuffle about a sixth-grade girl who wants to play CYO football.
The girl has been banned. Petitions have been written. Appeals have been made.
After all, the CYO is a Catholic outfit.
God forbid that boys and girls (eeeeewwwww) should touch each other.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” (Updated) 0
Shoot first. Ask questions later, politely (emphasis added).
Some time around 11:30 a.m., Pilotti saw the dogs near his sheep, pulled out the 20-gauge single-shot shotgun he legally owned, and fired, said West Vincent Police Chief Michael Swininger. Mary Bock said police told her Pilotti first fatally shot Argus in the face, then shot and killed Fiona.
(snip)
When William Bock asked Pilotti about the incident, his reply, according to the Bocks, was “I shoot first and ask questions later.”
Shooting first, always the most polite course of action, if done with the pinkie out, natch.
Addendum:
