2014 archive
The Regent’s Plan To Turn Tidewater Back into Tollwater Is Clearly a Failure . . . 0
. . . for we all know that a lamer website means a failed policy. It’s ACA rules.
VDOT website crashes after Hampton Roads drivers rush to get E-ZPass
Aside:
The policy is a failure for many other reasons, not the least because it exemplifies the Commonwealth’s selling out to the highest bidder its responsibility for providing for the transportation needs of its citizens.
A crashed website, though, is nothing more than a crashed website.
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
Kansas gets creative in the art of disenfranchisement.
Why are Republicans so frightened of the electorate?
(Yeah, I know. The question answers itself.)
A Theory of Devolution 0
Dick Polman struggles to understand the Republican rejection of evolution and science in general. A nugget:
(snip)
This ever-ardent embrace of theocracy helps to explain why so many Republican politicians increasingly thump the Bible.
The ignorant in power is an ugly and dangerous thing.
I Get Mail 0
Here’s an excerpt from an email that appeared in my inbox.
Here’s a glimpse of where spam comes from.
America 175 Million Email Address $599 US
Europe 156 Million Email Address $599 US
Asia 168 Million Email Address $599 US
China(PRC) 80 Million Email Address $499 US
HongKong 3.25 Million Email Address $300 US
TaiWan 2.25 Million Email Address $300 US
Japan 27 Million Email Address $300 US
Australia 6 Million Email Address $250 US
Canda 10 Million Email Address $350 US
Russia 38 Million Email Address $399 US
England 3.2 Million Email Address $300 US
German 20 Million Email Address $300 US
France 38 Million Email Address $399 US
India 12 Million Email Address $350 US
CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICAN AREA 40 Million Email Address $399 US
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 45 million Email Address $399 US
SOUTH EAST AREA 32 million Email Address $399 US
These people are scum.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
He shot the floor, but he did not shoot the deputy.
Police say that when he reached into his pocket to get money for his meal, one of his fingers got caught in the trigger guard of the .45-caliber pistol.
In other news of the polite . . . .
A Picture Is Worth 3
Trickle on economics:
Yes, We Have No Bananas 0
I had a delightful breakfast with Shaun Mullen in Newark, Delaware, several years ago, when I was on my way to attend First Daughter’s party to celebrate her graduation from Temple University with a Master’s degree.
Shaun has long been a favorite read of mine. I admire his insights and his writing. Elsewhere in these electrons, I have reviewed his book, which I commend to your attention.
He has been absent from the blogosphere due to bad luck and broken bones, but he returns to look back on the year. A nugget:
Follow the link. You will not regret it. You will also learn why this post has the title it has.
And pray that he does not forsake his mouse and keyboard, as he is inclined to do, tired of the battle and frustrated that stupid is in the catbird seat.
His voice is needed.
Tell him so.
Facebook Frolics 0
Details at the link.
When users compose messages that include links to a third-party website, Facebook scans the content of the message, follows the link and searches for information to profile the message-sender’s Web activity, violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California privacy and unfair competition laws, according to the suit.
Three words.
Terms. of. Service.
I find the Zuckerborg to be as skeevy as the Republican preoccupation with the sex lives of others, but, once you agree to the TOS, you have given away your privacy. You’ve given them permission to watch you run naked through the innerwebs.
(In case you wonder, that’s why you seldom see me on Facebook–if I didn’t use it to pimp this blog, I’d have deleted all my data and left there long ago. That’s also why my FB page is mostly blog posts and photographs and why I visit there only in a “private” tab that, when I close it, deletes all the Facebook tracking cookies.)
Can’t Kick the Habit 0
The Regency ends officially on January 11, but it looks like Virginia’s addiction to magickal nicotine pills will continue for quite a while.
And in the waning days of McDonnell’s tenure, it’s unclear when those deals expire because the contracts binding them stipulate they “will continue” through an undefined completion point.
Afterthought:
When I went to college, I thought I wanted be a lawyer.
Then I got to know some law students . . . .
It is a truism that every lawyer is a crook until you need one (and, when I needed one, I’ve always found persons of integrity), but, really, now, open-ended contracts?
Haiku for You 0
The Rude One has been collecting haikus for the New Year.
Here’s one:
syria iran
bring rage howls from the right we
denied them new war
Follow the link above and this one for more.
Both Sides Not 0
No, “both sides” do not “do it,” as Driftglass regularly points out.
Centrism is a pose; it’s not a position. It’s adopted by those who either have no position or know that, if they revealed their actual position, they would not be able to keep the money and influence that they garner by appearing to be “above it all.”
Harry S Truman summed it up years ago:
Whenever a fellow tells me he’s bipartisan, I know he’s going to vote against me.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
More familial courtesy:
The lady is recovering.
Where I come from, you point the damn gun at the floor and unload it before you clean it.
