July, 2015 archive
Pistol Protocol 0
jason330 explains how the media will cover the next mass shooting.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 2
Wrong on Cue 0
Shorter Bill Cosby (and many many others): “But she really wanted it.”
Yeah, Bill (and many many others). Keep telling yourself that.
The Snaring Economy 1
In The Guardian, Frank Pasquale and Siva Vaidhyanathan see a precedent for Uber etc.
It’s not the precedent you would expect. Here’s a snippet (emphasis added):
The analogy is most obvious in the case of an American civil rights law itself. Uber has ignored advocates for the blind, and other disabled persons, when they claim Uber’s drivers discriminate against them. In response to a lawsuit by the National Federation of the Blind, Uber bluntly asserts that it’s merely a communication platform, not the type of employer meant to be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some judges and regulators accept that reasoning; others reject it. But the larger lesson is clear: Uber’s aggressive efforts to avoid or evade disability laws are nothing less than a form of corporate nullification, as menacing to the rule of law as defiance of civil rights laws in the days after courts ruled against racial segregation in the US.
Follow the link for the rest of the article.
Fox News: Weaponizing Hate 0
Excerpt:
Conservatism and racism in the post-Civil Rights era are one and the same.
Via We Are Responsible Negroes.
Rand Gestures 0
I’m not big fan of Amanda Marcotte. I think that she often sacrifices truth to polemic. My scrupulous efforts to remain neutral in these electrons should indicate the degree to which she tickles my skeptic bone.
Nevertheless, I think she is on to something in her attempt to make sense of the embrace by Rand Paul, self-styled sort of glibertarian, of the right-wing religious politics of pervy preoccupation with the sex lives of others. Here’s a bit from her piece at TPM:
Then there’s the other, simpler explanation, the one I favor:
A “Libertarian” is a Republican who’s ashamed to admit it.
The View from the Balcony 0
Via Job’s Anger.
Intolerance: Yet Another Republican Family Value 0
The Bangor Daily News spotlights the hypocrisy of those who would unleash the hate-full in the name of tolerance. A snippet:
“Our country,” he told NPR in a recent interview, “was founded on a proud tradition of religious freedom and tolerance.”
That freedom, however, meant that Americans were free from a state-established religion. As a result, no one religious view is favored over another, nor should one be forced upon citizens with different beliefs.
Read the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Still Traitors after All These Years 2
From Facing South (full article at the link):
(snip)
It’s ironic that the same folks who decry the evul fedrul guvmint would claim its sanction.
Garden Notes 0
If you look back at the photographs I’ve posted, you will see a number of pictures of bumbledy bees.
I haven’t posted any this summer because we have seen hardly any bumbledy bees.
Coming Soon: Career Choices 0
A new Dickensian tale, in which Artful Dodger gives up the streets and the gangs, gets a three-piece suit, and becomes a banker.