October, 2013 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 4
Politeness is essential in a disciplinary hearing. (No doubt you’ve heard of this police chief and his crackpot videos.)
The loaded semi-automatic handgun landed inches away from Gilberton Chief Mark Kessler and his attorney. It did not go off, but attorney Joseph Nahas said that he and other officials were concerned about the safety of everyone in the tiny, crowded meeting room at borough hall.
I am continually taken aback by the number of gun fetishists who have no idea how to practice safe gats. You’d think they at least would agree on “safe words” before their sessions.
And in other news of the polite . . . .
Republican Wedgery 0
PoliticalProf attempts to make sense of the Republican fixation on the Affordable Care Act and concludes that it’s not about the issue; it’s about the wedge.
A small nugget:
Pro-life abortion politics is one such issue. As a practical matter, abortion, as an issue, is fraught with an array of emotions, perceptions of rights, and beliefs about what is right and what is wrong. It is possible, and indeed quite common, for individual voters to hold an array of what might be termed “liberal” political positions — pro-labor, pro-environment, in favor of increasing taxes on the better off — while holding a “pro-life” position on abortion at the same time. No voter is perfectly ideologically consistent.
Read the rest.
It makes more sense than any other attempt I’ve seen to explain the Republicans’ willingness to shoot the economy to get their way.
Theft of Services 0
Another tale of what happens when public responsibility is outsourced to profiteers.
Life Imitates Art 0
Frankenstein flees the monster.
Convoy 0
If they actually do tie up traffic on the beltway, how the heck will anyone tell the difference from a normal beltway day?
Video below the fold in case it autoplays.
Washout (Updated) 0
It’s been raining since Tuesday.
I looked at my rain gauge, which has a capacity of 5.25 inches, this morning.
It was full.
Addendum, Later Same Day:
Another .75 inches today.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Job creation, Republican shutdown style.
(snip)
The median forecast of economists surveyed projected 311,000. Estimates ranged from claims of 304,000 to 340,000. The jump pushed applications up to the highest level since March last week. The previous week’s figure was unrevised at 308,000.
The jobless claims report showed the four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, climbed to 325,000 last week from 305,000.
Also, Bloomberg still needs new experts.
“Some Pigs Are More Equal than Others” 0
Kevin McKinney wants Republicans to stop playing Animal Farmville with the polity.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is essential to family functions.
By the time I was ten, I knew how to check whether the damned thing was loaded.
There is no room for “accidentally” where guns are involved. There is room only for “negligently.”
Via TPM.
How the Tea Was Bagged 0
Reg Henry follows the trail of teas. A nugget:
President Barack Obama had been in office one month — one month! — yet already he was considered a socialist/Marxist. Most presidents get a political honeymoon — Mr. Obama wasn’t given enough time to find the White House bathroom. But thank goodness his race was not a factor, and if you believe that, pull my leg, it’s got a bell on it.
The other day, we grabbed lunch at a beachfront eatery; it was mid-afternoon, the season is waning, and business was slow, so we had a pleasant chat with the only waitress on duty, who looked to be college age.
She mentioned that, based on the attitudes of some of her customers, she thought that persons are more bigoted and prejudiced than they used to be.
I disagreed, but I did say that, as far as I can tell, compared to a couple of decades ago, persons sure are a damned sight more willing to be open about their bigotry than they were a couple of decades ago.
Teabaggery is exhibit A-one.
Someone’s in Big Truffle 0
Not a mushroom cloud, a cloud of mushrooms . . .
He rolled off the hood of the car and was hurled to the ground. “While the forestry official struggled to his feet, the car reversed back toward him, rolled onto his foot and stopped,” police said in a statement. The man was injured and had to see a doctor — but police arrived and got personal details about the men, who now face criminal charges.