September, 2015 archive
Rising Above 0
Steve Watson thinks that Donald Trump may be petering out (full argument at the link).
I fear he is mistaken. “Competence” and “Republican governance” are distinct and unrelated concepts.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
The polite build families at the confluence of guns and stupid.
He was removing the magazine from the 9 mm handgun when a round was discharged and struck his wife (in the ankle–ed.), according to police.
Note how the phrasing implies that the weapon somehow mysteriously fired itself all on its ownsome.
If it was an accident, why was he pointing the damn gun in the general direction of another person?
Delusions of Virtue 0
Bigotry wants itself some equal rights.
The magnificent chutzpah of the twisted rationalization is stunning. Stupid, nasty, perverse, self-serving, vile, hypocritical, craven, and evil, but stunning.
(Ask me nicely, I’ll tell you what I really think.)
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Down the road a piece, the boys are advertising their little club.
Each bag also contained a Confederate flag sticker and a Life Savers candy.
An application for the Ku Klux Klan was on the back of the fliers, along with an address and a telephone number that Medlock said was bogus.
Separate and Sequel 0
John Romano reminds us of another time in which separation of church and state was an issue. A bit:
For 55 years ago this week, another presidential candidate had to swear the exact opposite to appease a group of skeptical Protestant ministers.
In 1960, the nation was gripped by the idea that a Catholic president might willfully ignore U.S. laws and instead follow the Vatican’s doctrines.
I guess how one some persons feel about separation of church and state depends on whose church is being separated . . . .
“Barney Google, with the Goo-Goo-Googly Brain” 0
Dr. Richard Cytowic argues that smart phones are making us dumb.
“Why” questions, or demands for critical analysis and opinion, leave them flummoxed. Most teachers still believe that critical thinking and self-aware imagination rather than rote memorization should be at the heart of learning. Advocates of more technology offer shiny new toys, but they misunderstand how learning occurs. Or perhaps, cynically, they don’t care.
Much more at the link.
Vic Damone and the Maguire Sisters and Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme and Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin . . . 0
I was cruising about on Shoutcast last night looking for background music for reading my Phryne Fisher murder mystery because KCEA was broadcasting a high school football game (they are a high school station; they’re allowed). I was trying to find an online station for which “oldies” or “easy listening” meant something other than early Beatles or “soft rock” or, to put it differently, played the music that WTAR-AM played before I discovered the Jefferson Airplane and before AM radio became a cesspool of hate-full talk.
No luck.
Suggestions?
(I still have a crush on Edie Gorme.)
A Nation of Immigrants 2
Alfred Doblin is disheartened by Republican rants about brown people.
Scary stuff. Maybe America is not 1933 Munich, but we are not a shining city on a hill, either. This rhetoric by smart, pragmatic politicians like Christie and Bush is dangerous. It shows how much both men will sacrifice to become president. They are willing to abandon all that was good about their public lives just to compete with a billionaire P.T. Barnum with straw-colored hair. Is this the only choice: The scarecrow or the straw man?
Follow the link for the rest.
American Taliban: Sharia and Sharia Like Dept. 0
The Rude One points out that contemptuous of court Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis is, by her actions, attempting to impose Sharia Law. A snippet:
Image via Kos.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Farron Cousins minces no words.
I fear that he may be optimistic. Hate sells.
The New Crusaders 0
Giles Frazier writes of England, but his words apply throughout (to use an old term) Christendom.
More at the link.