December, 2013 archive
A New Look for the New Year 0
Happy New Year!
It was time to remodel. I’ve been working on this new theme the past few days. Please let me know of any problems you encounter by commenting on this post.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 2
The Denver Post’s Rick Tosches muses about the latest courteous carryings-on in the Mountain State.
Misty Water-Colored Memories 0
Pamela Cytrynbaum rounds up reminiscences of parenthood:
Shocked and thrilled, I bellow back: “I love you, sweetie!!!” from behind my own closed door.
She replies: “NO, MA!! I SAID I LOVE YOU TUBE!!!!”
More reality from parenthood trenches at the link.
Jerk of the Year? 0
Take your pick.
Look Back 0
When I first moved to Philadelphia in the early 1980s, one of my Amtrak friends in Washington used to send me the Washington Post Sunday magazine via railroad mail (it travels on baggage cars) just so I could read Dave Barry’s column.
Read Dave Barry’s look back at 2013. You’ll be glad you did.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” (Updated) 0
When you are hunting, be polite to persons standing behind your quarry.
(snip)
They say the man was hit in the head with a shotgun pellet during an organized deer hunt with the Waids Hunt Club.
They say he was shooting at deer at the time when the shot went past the deer and hit the victim.
Afterthought:
If this is an organized deer hunt, I’d hate to participate in a disorganized one.
(Also, hire some copy editors. Pronouns are organizing an antecedent hunt.)
Addendum:
The victim did not survive.
Meta: Archives (Updated) 0
Update: With the new theme, pages can now be accessed from the navigation bar just below the banner picture; they have been removed from the sidebar. This includes a page pointing to the Archives.
The Archive of all posts published here is now displayed in a “page” under the heading “Other Stuff” on the sidebar, over there on the right, reducing the length of the sidebar, courtesy of the Compact Archives plugin.
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School for Scamdal 0
Bob Cesca looks back on Bush’s Benghazis.
The Rich Are Different from You and Me 0
As Rekha Basu points out, they have their own calling cards.
(snip)
Imagine a public defender for a poor kid trying to get his client off on the grounds that his parent, working multiple jobs, wasn’t around enough to show him right from wrong. The kid would probably have been petitioned to adult court and sent to the slammer for a long time.
A rich teenager walked away with probation after killing four people and seriously injuring two others while driving drunk. The judge accepted the contention of a defense psychologist that the teen was the victim of “affluenza,” raised with such wealth and entitlement that he never learned from his mistakes and was not responsible for his actions.Imagine, indeed.
Read the rest.
“The Desolation of Smaug” 0
We went to see The Hobbit, Part 2, last weekend.
It is hardly canonical; in turning one slim book into three fat movies, Peter Jackson dumped a lot of stuff into the film that is not in the original. With one exception (an implied romance between an elf and dwarf? I think not!), it is in the spirit, if not the letter, of Tolkien.
If you are looking for a faithful adaptation of the book, don’t bother seeing the film. If you want a fun three-hour non-stop ride, see it today.
And the scenes of the New Zealand countryside make you want to book an airline ticket to the southern hemisphere as soon as you leave the theatre.
Staying Alive 0
The Affordable Care Act starts to have real-world effect. The Roanoke Times talks to one beneficiary:
For Auldridge and millions of others like him with pre-existing conditions, the Affordable Care Act codifies what had been a simple yet elusive concept: that sick people should have access to health insurance, and that the plans they purchase should actually defray their medical bills.
Much more at the link.
