2013 archive
Freshness Guaranteed
0
Same old, same old.
Gaming the Numbers 0
Bob Cesca:
But, because there’s an “Obamacare is a Failed Policy” script that must be serviced, the lowest number of the batch has to be quoted. That’s why you’ve been reading about 106,000 rather than 1.5 million.
Read the rest.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
For all practical purposes, no change.
(snip)
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure, decreased to 344,000 last week from 349,750 the prior week. The reading compares with an average 328,750 at the end of August, before delays in processing claims in California caused the numbers to see saw.
California was among states and territories for which claims were estimated last week. The others were Virginia, Hawaii, Washington and Puerto Rico.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits was unchanged at 2.87 million in the week ended Nov. 2.
The Lost Cause 0
When someone speaks to you about the “Lost Cause,” ask him or her, “What exactly was the cause that was lost?”
Slave Master with Slaves
(Study for The American Historical Epic), circa 1924-27.
Crayon with pencil and ink on paper
Citation on request.
Someone Is Wrong on the Internet 0
Warning: Language.
Nuts for Dunkin’ 0
I hope I never want a doughnut this bad.
(And, if I did, it sure wouldn’t be a Dunkin’. It would be a Krispie Kreme.)
Cross the CBBT with Me 0
This weekend, I went to Philadelphia to visit kids.
For grins and giggles, I slapped my dash cam into place and recorded the rides across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
It’s not great cinematography by any means. It’s completely unedited; the camera has a wide-angle lens, so there’s a fisheye effect; and there’s no narration. Nevertheless, if you haven’t crossed the bay on the CBBT, you might enjoy it.
There are three hi-def segments in *.mov format. Because of the hi-def, the files are quite large and may take a while to download:
Northbound Segment One: from the entrance to the south island, where I stopped for breakfast because of the great country ham and the surprisingly reasonable prices (approx. 327MB).
Northbound Segment Two: from the south island to Wise Point (approx. 811MB).
Southbound: Wise Point to Virginia Beach (approx. 1GB).
Zero More Shopping Days Till the Phony War on Christmas 0
If there’s a war on Christmas, it looks to me like Christmas has won.
Reg Henry:
But it seems to me the anger so inspired is hardly conducive to recruiting more Christians. Who would want to join a religion that goes out of its way to be obnoxious to outsiders, in stark defiance of its own beliefs? Goodwill among men? Bah, humbug.
Do read the rest, if only for the delightful bit in which he discusses Sarah Palin’s latest contribution to reducing the overall intelligence of the polity.
Throwing Away the Key 0
Punishment that fits the needs of the prison-industrial complex and keeps them folk in line–forget it.
This Could Spell the End of Television as We Know It 2
If every advertising lie were prosecuted, there would be no advertising.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
I had breakfast in a Waffle House yesterday; I like them because they have real (AKA country) ham, rather than that pathetic boiled Yankee “it calls itself ham” pretend ham.
The staff was polite and attentive, but not this polite.
(snip)
Pierce said a restaurant customer “got into a verbal argument with other patrons in the Waffle House when he got up and fired two shots into the air, and then before leaving in a car fired one more shot in the direction of others inside.”
Sports Palace Pickpockets (Updated) 0
Another proposal for a sports palace in Virginia Beach has surfaced.
This one claims that, even in the absence of a big league franchise of some sort, the deal would be a money maker and would cost less than the last deal that the local Developer Party tried to sneak through city council.
The previous deal called for the city to put in $241 million, the state $150 million and a private company $35 million. That money included $80 million to be paid to the Kings for relocation. The city and its Economic Development Department spent about $1.2 million on the previous arena plan.
As far as I can see–and the experience of many cities supports this–when developers want the government to pay for their projects, it’s a good sign that the project will not be a money-maker. Rather, the government will end up holding the bag, stranded on base, and saddled with debt for a building that stands empty most of the time.
Support a sports palace on the grounds of civic pride or public service and you may have a legitimate argument–but profit and economic development? That’s a con and a scam.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
Via PoliticalProf, here’s a for instance.
Dulcet Tones 0
In which I talk about my new Zareason Zatab ZT2 wireless Android tablet, with which I am quite satisfied, thank you very much.
Download the handout (PDF) here.
Click the image for a larger view.
Zareason specializes in Linux-based computers.