December, 2013 archive
Ideologue-cracy 2
The column is about Maine’s teabagger Governor LePage, but it could be about the entire Republican Party. A nugget:
The ideologue’s approach to policy is like the man who drops his keys in the road and looks for them under the streetlight. Pragmatic policymakers are like those who search the street, using a flashlight to really investigate.
And, natch, when teabaggery doesn’t produce the desired results, teabaggers just teabag harder.
Read the rest, which discusses how self-fulfilling prophecies get self-fulfilled.
iJunk 0
Have you heard about the newest thing in iCrap?
Moldy Oldies 0
When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, one never heard of buildings having mold problems that made persons ill.
Now, mold is closing schools and forcing folks to leave their homes.
I’m puzzled. What’s different?
Were mold infestations not recognized back then in those Dark Ages, are effete modern persons more susceptible to the effects of mold, has mold mutated into a more vicious form (even though we know that evolution is only a theory because Genesis), or do “climate control” systems that result in windows’ being closed year round make buildings or the persons in them more susceptible to infection?
There is a reason.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Cable News 0
No, not that cable news.
Friday, I ran out of windshield washer fluid in my truck. When I pulled on the hood release to refill the reservoir, there was a “clunk” and the hood did not. Release, that is.
Yesterday morning, we took the vehicle to my mechanic, who has taken excellent care of it since I moved to these parts. He fixes what’s broke, doesn’t fix what’s not broke, and stands behind his work. He doesn’t just replace; he repairs.
He warned us that, if a part were needed, it might have to come from a dealer and, because the repair is so infrequent, the part might not be in stock. I was prepared for him to have the vehicle for a couple of days, if necessary (I certainly did not want to drive it without being able to open the hood).
We dropped it off and had barely been back long enough for me to squeeze off a couple of drive-by blog posts when the mechanic called.
Fixed.
Once he got the hood open, he determined that nothing was broken; he lubricated the cable, and the release worked just fine.
When I asked him how much (I don’t mind paying for knowledge and expertise) he said, “No charge. It was barely in the bay for 10 minutes.”
I can recommend Bucky’s on Witchduck Road half a mile south of Independence most whole-heartedly. Bucky’s is competent, honest, and thorough.
‘Tis the Season 0
This looks like a scene from a particularly inane TV detective show’s Christmas episode.
Warning: Language from the bystanders.
Via C&L.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Children should be polite to their parents.
Two shots were fired from the gun when she attempted to take the weapon. One bullet hit her in the leg. She was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Misdirection Play, Ed School Dept. 0
It strikes me that, if the money spent on creating new bureaucracies “to fix troubled schools” were spent on classrooms, teachers, and supplies for said schools, the schools would not need fixing and a lot of bureaucrats would have to find honest work.
And Now for Something Completely Different 0
We stumbled over this on our cable company’s free stuff feed. It starts slow, but it’s quite nicely done.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite to yourself.
It really is time to talk about IQ tests for possessing firearms.
If you can’t figure out how to unload your own gun . . . .
Stray Thought, Recipe Dept. 0
Crumpet rings double as excellent egg rings.
Frankly, I think that’s a better use for them than making crumpets.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
All therapists agree: Be polite to yourself.
No one knows this more than residents of Florida.
It’s people who shoot someone, or themselves, accidentally.
Four out of every 10 people who are rushed to a Florida hospital or emergency room with a nonfatal wound were shot by accident, according to hospital data collected by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and published by the Florida Department of Health.
Hey! Rubio! 0
John Romano, newspaper columnist, thinks he has figured out Senator Marco Rubio’s aptitude. A nugget:
Sen. Marco Rubio is positioning himself to run for … .
Columnist.
Trust me on this. I know the signs. The smirks. The sarcasm. The complete disregard of any fact that might get in the way of the point he is trying to make.
Read the rest. The evidence is compelling.
