August, 2015 archive
The Snaring Economy 0
Ride with discriminating drivers.
From May to July, nearly 3 percent of UberX drivers, the lowest-cost option available, avoided the northern edge of north Minneapolis, while just more than 2 percent avoided the North Dowling Avenue area. Lyft drivers, who serve a smaller coverage area than Uber, dismissed even more trips, about 14.54 percent in the near north areas.
While the numbers do not appear staggering, comments on an online Uber forum show that some drivers are staying away from north Minneapolis.
The Perverse Logic of MAD 0
Der Spiegel interviews Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who did more than anyone else to end the Cold War, regardless of the claims of Ronald Reagan’s PR machine. Read it.
Here’s a bit.
Gorbachev: There’s a dangerous logic in that. Here’s another question: If five or 10 countries are allowed to have nuclear weapons, then why can’t 20 or 30? Today, a few dozen countries have the technical prerequisites to build nuclear weapons. The alternative is clear: Either we move toward a nuclear-free world or we have to accept that nuclear weapons will continue to spread, step by step, across the globe. And can we really imagine a world without nuclear weapons if a single country amasses so many conventional weapons that its military budget nearly tops that of all other countries combined? This country would enjoy total military supremacy if nuclear weapons were abolished.
SPIEGEL: You’re talking about the US?
Gorbachev: You said it. It is an insurmountable obstacle on the road to a nuclear-free world.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still trending positively.
(snip)
The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly numbers, decreased to 268,250 last week from 274,750.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell by 14,000 to 2.26 million in the week ended July 25.
The big news is that Bloomberg’s experts were close enough as to never mind, but that was likely one of the whaddycallem statistical anomalies.
Reg Henry Appeals to the Diety 0
But, he wonders, which deity?
My first thought was to approach in prayer the deity whom the Republicans make a great show of worshiping. But since they have made grinding the faces of the poor the principal tenet of their politics, and appear to have adopted Ayn Rand as an apostle, it seemed better to message deities more in accord with their bellicose philosophy.
Follow the link to find out to whom he directed his appeal.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Conduct yourself with courtesy at the entrance to the emporium.
Dawson County Emergency Services officials said the incident, which occurred about 6:40 p.m. inside his car in the parking lot, was ruled accidental.
Now, about those intelligence tests for possessing firearms . . . .
Stray Question 0
How many broadcast outfits have a political party all of their ownsome, to nurture and dress up and play house with?
No, It’s Not “Nor–Folk“ 0
Anyone from these parts knows how to pronounce “Norfolk.”
If you can’t pronounce it, we know you are not from these parts.
Just remember the (likely apocryphal) cheer:
We don’t smoke.
We don’t drink.
Norfolk!
Massive Resistance Redux 0
It was right there, but I didn’t twig to it at all. Adam Lee saw it, though:
These tactics echo the civil rights era, when some municipalities shut down their public schools entirely, as well as other public accommodations like pools, rather than desegregate them. In the same way, today’s religious conservatives are so determined to continue discriminating against women and LGBT people that they’re willing to deprive everyone of rights and privileges rather than grant equal treatment to people who, in their eyes, don’t deserve it.
Follow the link to see why he thinks this might be a good thing.
We Have Created a Culture of Stupid, Exhibit Umpty-Ump 0
My electric razor died after over a decade of faceful service, so I shopped for a new one today.
One of the shavers on the store display had a stubble attachment (I shan’t dignify it by naming the brand), so you can get your Yasser Arafat look just right.