2013 archive
Flag Daze 2
The Inky notes that the Stars and Bars seems to be gaining popularity in Yankeeland. A nugget:
“I’ve had truckers come to me and say, ‘I can’t buy these things anywhere,’ ” Hauber said. “Places just stopped selling them.”
Hauber said that he doesn’t support slavery, but that the Civil War was also about states’ rights.
This question was not asked (or, at least, not mentioned in the story):
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States’ rights to do just what, exactly?
One more time, when someone says, “states rights,” ask that question.
Then please let me know what happens.
Cruzing to Godwin’s Law 0
Honest to Pete, these people are nuts.
If this keeps up, Sandisk will rename their Cruzer.
Full Disclosure:
I have two Sandisk Cruzers. I might just fire up Parted and change the label to something else. “Sandisk Too Stupid for Words” comes to mind.
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*I try to use profanity sparingly in these electrons, but, really, now, it’s becoming a challenge.
Bird on a Wire 0
It seems to be a Thing. First there was this (picture at the link):
On Thursday, about 8:40 a.m., a helicopter swooped in beside the lines so a man perched on the edge of a platform could grab the bird.
Then they flew away together.
Now there’s this:
(I was tempted to file this under “wingnuttery,” but decided that would be cruelty to animals.)
Afterthought:
What is a heron doing in Yuma?
iTois for Poor Fanbois 0
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
When more politeness is not better.
Mitchell said the group had placed the Tannerite in an inoperable 1993 Honda Accord parked in the middle of a large field on his property, according to Gardner.
“When the bullet struck the vehicle it detonated the Tannerite, causing the vehicle to explode,” Gardner said. “The explosion caused extensive damage to the vehicle.”
Tannerite’s website recommends using half-pound amounts of the explosive when igniting it with a high-powered rifle. The substance produces an explosion and cloud of vapor so shooters know if they’ve hit their mark.
Gunnuttery boils down to liking to blow stuff up.
All the rest is rationalization.
Night of the Long Knives 0
Chauncey Devega unloads on Republican efforts to destroy the food stamp program.
Here’s a snippet:
It is a decision to kill poor people.
In America, discussions of poverty are linked in the public imagination to stereotypes about race, class, and gender. The face of poverty is not white (the group which in fact comprises the largest group of recipients for government aid). Instead, it is the mythical black welfare queen, or an “illegal” immigrant who is trying to pilfer the system at the expense of “hard working” white Americans.
Discussions about poverty are also easily transformed into claims about morality and virtue. Consequently, while the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is very efficient and involves very little if any fraud on the part of its participants, stereotypes about the poor can be used to legitimate the policing and harassment of Americans in need of food support through mandatory drug testing and other unnecessary programs.
Here, the long-term end goal for Republicans is revealed for what it is—a desire to make being a poor person into a crime.
He’s quite correct, you know. The Republican positions on helping the poor cannot be separated from their decision, at the time Nixon initiated the odious Southern Strategy, to become the new Confederate Party. Witness this comparison of the Eisenhower platform with the Romney platform.
Do please read the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Denied his chance to demonstrate politeness in the classroom.
Police later found bomb shrapnel, several rounds of bullets and improvised explosive devices at his home in Cumming.
More about how he prepared for his demonstration at the link.
Petrified by Protuberances 0
Stilly, stupid, childish in Johnson County, Kansas.
Cantor’s Cant 0
Melissa Harris Perry:
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
Speaking of scams and frauds, Dan Casey of the Roanoke Times consults with local election officials on the latest Virginia Republican gut-out-the-vote effort.
The results are as I predicted–legitimate voters are getting kicked off the rolls. Here’s one nugget–follow the link for the whole sorry story.
One voter she mailed a cancellation letter to responded with surprise. It turned out he had moved out of Virginia, registered and voted elsewhere, but recently moved back to Roanoke at the same address.
Shepherd couldn’t undo the cancellation. So she guided him through the process of reregistering.
Registrars, who are already overworked preparing for November’s election, worry that many voters won’t learn that they have been “purged” until it’s too late to reregister, which, no doubt, is part of the plan.
Internet Four Stars 2
The yearlong investigation encompassed companies that create fake reviews as well as the clients that buy them. Among those signing the agreements are a charter bus operator, a teeth-whitening service, a laser hair-removal chain and an adult entertainment club. Also signing are several reputation-enhancement firms that place fraudulent reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, Citysearch and Yahoo.
There were also fake reviews of dentists, lawyers, and medical imaging services.
I know that some persons pay attention to online reviews. I rarely do, because I get comment spam almost every day from “SEO” outfits promising to boost ratings. Granting that there are things that you or your web person can do to make your site friendlier to search engines, third party SEO consultancy is by and large a fraud and a scam.
If you must read online reviews, read the ones here.
Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“The War To End All Wars” . . . 0
. . . also known as World War I, continues to spawm more wars.
Shaun Mullen explores its continuing legacy of bloodshed, augmented by the perfidy of the British in betraying their Arab allies against the Ottoman Empire.
Just read it.
No Place To Hide, Good News for Stalkers Dept. 0
Donna Sciulli is one of the most photographed women in Pittsburgh.
On Aug. 30, they snapped shots of her picking up groceries at the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. in the Strip District. Two days earlier, shutters flew as she drove past the U.S. Steel Tower.
And outside her Beechview home, she’s been pictured nearly a dozen times.
Ms. Sciulli is not a celebrity. She is, however, one of the 80,000 Pittsburgh drivers whose license plates had been scanned multiple times in August by the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, which is using cameras mounted on cruisers to record a massive database of where and when everyday people go about their business.
Cars are photographed ostensibly to determine whether they have outstanding parking tickets.
And, since the Parking Authority considers its snapshots to be a public records and keeps them on file and on line for at least 30 days, whether or not outstanding violations are found (in the great majority of cases, they are not), anyone can track anybody.