January, 2016 archive
“. . . and Justice for All” 0
Shorter Scott Walker:
Afterthought:
I find myself continually taken aback by the gratuitous nasty that seems fundamental to Republicanism.
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
John Naughton takes on the neoliberal con that the market is not just everything, that it is the only thing. A nugget:
The crassness of neoliberalism lies in its insistence that markets represent the only way of making them. Hence the belief that one can make organisations such as the NHS or the BBC more “efficient” by introducing “internal markets” of the kind that John Birt tried in the BBC during his tenure as director general, with results that were sometimes beyond parody.
In that sense, the evangelical neoliberal is like the mythical tradesman who only possesses a hammer and is therefore condemned to treating everything as if it were a nail.
Stray Thought 0
It’s rather amazing how pleasant a Sunday one can have when one does not waste it on big-time football.
“A Well-Ordered Militia” 0
Nancy Liebrecht tackles the myth. A snippet:
The idea that anybody who had a gun was in the militia is a modern construct derived from aggressive promotion by gun advocates in the last thirty-five years and reinforced by series of recent court decisions.
As the debate about gun regulation continues, we should remember that the Second Amendment exists is because in 1787 the country needed an organized militia under government control to fight an insurrection. Personal protection or hunting had nothing to do with it. The Second Amendment was interpreted quite differently in 1791 than gun advocates interpret it today.
She left out the bit, which some dispute, about the slave-catchers.
Every City, Dodge City . . . 0
. . . every hill, Boot Hill.
From the accompanying article:
Wilmington attorney Thomas Shellenberger, a spokesman for the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association (one of the groups suing the state), admitted as much, telling the News Journal that no particular incident prompted the lawsuit.
So why sue? To push an twisted idea promoted by the National Rifle Association that our Constitution places no restrictions on an individual’s ability to possess a firearm, be it park, school or your mother’s dinner table.
Sadly, if these faux patriots would stop professing their undying love for the Founding Fathers and actually read the Constitution, they’d find there’s only one place it outright bans the government from regulating an individual’s rights – the First Amendment.
In related news . . . .
The Last Wind-Up 0
A Swiss company is fighting back against the Apple Watch.
(snip)
“It will let you reconnect with people by getting out there, meeting your friends, and spending time with your loved ones,” said CEO Edouard Meylan.
“So get a life, upgrade to a mechanical watch.”
Paradise Lost 0
It seems that all is not well in the Bundy Bund’s Shangri-La-La-Land.
The (Last) Appeal of the Regent 0
Writing in The Roanoke Times, Dale Eisman skewers George “Defending the Indefensible” Will’s attempt to defend the Regent’s appeal of having been found guilty of being on the take. A snippet (emphasis added):
This everybody-does-it argument has been the heart of McDonnell’s defense since his indictment two years ago. It didn’t work on the jury that listened to five weeks worth of evidence against McDonnell or on judges of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, who twice refused to overturn his convictions.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Just another day in Gun Nut Paradise:
Police say the boys were in the care of a family friend who works at the nearby Sparks Natural Gas station. James Howard, 63, was looking after the boys while their parents went to a medical appointment. Howard was working on a pump when the shooting happened.
