November, 2014 archive
The Religious Wrong 0
Writing at the Boston Review, Claude S. Fisher presents a strong case that the religious right is driving Americans away from organized religion. A snippet (the word “Nones” below refer to those who, when asked their religious affiliation on various surveys, answered “None”):
Fanaticism is never pretty. In the long run, those who promote a theocracy in the United States will suffer the same fate as England’s Roundheads, but much unpleasantness lays along the way.
Gutless and Gutted, Reprise 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr.:
The party presented no compelling argument for itself. It didn’t just lack the courage of its convictions; it also lacked its convictions.
The Republicans also had nothing to say, but they said it loudly and with great certitude: “Obama caused Ebola! Obama caused ISIS! Obama is going to give your job to an illegal! GOP: 2014!”
Now the leaders of both parties are spouting the usual cliches about finding ways to work together. And anyone who believes that will happen probably also believes singing an insurance company jingle will make your agent magically appear.
Read the rest.
The Slow Death of Journalism 0
My local rag has laid off my favorite sportswriter. After 38 years with the same employer, he is done.
I now have no reason whatsoever to look at their sports section, except, possibly, to watch NASCAR devolve back to its hillbilly rum runnin’ roots.
As my two or three regular readers know, I’m fed up with big time sports, but I always read his column because I appreciated his point of view and, by heavens, the man can write.
AFAIC, nothing on the internet has damaged legitimate journalism more than Craig’s List, which has destroyed the classified advertising that was the life’s blood of newspapers.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Fly the polite skies (emphasis added).
Security checks of departing passengers this year have turned up a record-setting 1,855 firearms in carry-on bags, the Transportation Security said Nov. 6. Of those, 1,471 or 79 percent were loaded, according to a new report.
Follow the link to find out which airports are the most polite airports.
We are a society of stupid.
Strengths and Weaknesses 0
The Gloomy Historian tries to parse the why the election turned out the way it did. A nugget:
Follow the link for his theory.
Water Is Wet 0
In other shocking news, developers run this town.
Chartering a Course for Disaster 0
Another example of the privatization scam at work:
(snip)
In an earlier response to regulators, the schools’ board chairman, John Ferrante, stated that the schools are “contractually bound to preserve [the management company’s] trade secrets.” He also said that the nonprofit does not actually have the salary information for management company employees.
Whatcha wanna bet that the trade secret is that too much “education” money is really going for country club memberships?
