May, 2016 archive
The (Back)End of Ideology? 0
Ed, at Gin and Tacos, citing the work of Philip Converse, posits five (not the usual two: left and right) types of voters. A nugget:
Re-read that last sentence. Does that sound familiar?
The most incredible thing about the Trump campaign from an academic/political science perspective is that we have the rare opportunity to observe a major party campaign with no ideological content whatsoever.
Read it.
The Scalias of Justice 0
At Above the Law, Elie Mystal predicts that many Republicans will hold their noses and support Donald Trump because of existing and potential Supreme Court vacancies. Here’s one of the more low-key bits:
Guns, abortions, and gays. “GAG” orders. That’s what the conservatives want the Court for. They are willing to put a xenophobic, snake oil salesman in the Oval Office so long as NOBODY has to bake a cake for a gay person.
Do read the rest.
Chartering a Course for Disaster 0
Do not all of our children deserve the grift of an education?
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Young guns.
Just another day in NRA Paradise.
Math Skillz 0
A UPenn prof was taken off a plane for writing in math.
A fellow passenger apparently thought it was Arabic.
We are a society of stupid.
See Petard, Hoist Oneself 0
Today, my local rag’s editorial consists entirely of quotations from Donald Trump.
It is a parade of poisonous puerile petulance.
Light Bloggery 0
Things to do.
Plus I need a break. Paying attention is just too damned depressing.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
The hunt for politeness is never-ending.
Earlier, a 55-year-old man was hit in the eye in the Tararua District, and a man in his 30s was shot in the wrist near Ashburton.
The cause of the incidents isn’t yet clear.
I beg to differ. The cause of the incidents is very clear. The details of each incident may not be clear, but the cause of all, regardless of the details, is negligence.
The Snaring Economy 4
Instead, witnesses said, around a hundred people showed up at the two-bedroom house a couple of miles from the Oceanfront during College Beach Weekend. Police were called there twice: once for a report of gunshots and again three hours later for a shooting that left 20-year-old Darren Campbell dead.
In a resort town like this, short-term rentals are common, but most of them don’t fly under the regulatory radar as Airbnb stuff does. Follow the link for a thoughtful consideration of the challenges that snaring poses to municipal governments.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Play politely.
Deputies found the girl with a single gunshot wound. Medics declared her dead at the scene.
Had the girl been packing, no doubt this would not have happened.
The Entitlement Society 0
The sucklers at the public teat aren’t who you think they are.
DIs Coarse Discourse 0
Dick Polman foresees the next round of “On the One Hand, On the Other Hand”:
When I heard that, I sighed to myself, “Right on schedule. The normalization of Trump has begun.”
(snip)
That one candidate, regardess of how anyone might feel about her policies, has the demonstrable experience and qualifications to run the world’s preeminent superpower; and that the other candidate, by dint of his temperament, his zero public service experience, and his racism, xenophobia, and misogyny, is manifestly unfit.
Everything in that paragraph is factually incontestable. But most of the reporters, hewing to traditional standards, will pretend otherwise. They will be compelled to find “balance” – or, as we more accurately call it these days, “false equivalence.” And as evidenced by the episodes I quoted earlier, they’re already doing it. Their implicit mission is to place both candidates on the same plane. Their ’16 mission, in the brilliant words of one analyst, is “to make it Coca-Cola versus Pepsi, instead of Coca-Cola versus sewer water.”
Follow the link for more.
Afterthought:
Well, that answers the question at the end of the previous post.
Responsible Fiscals 0
Donald Trump proposes to run the United States the same way he ran the Trump Taj.
His campaign staff is trying to un-say it.
There are no clown shoes big enough . . . .
How long before this sort of idiocy becomes the new normal?
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
Purdue Pharma began producing the pills two decades ago, claiming that it relieved severe, chronic pain for 12 continuous hours — more twice the time of generic drugs. Representatives of the drug’s maker promised doctors that patients would only have to take two pills a day for 24-hour pain relief.
But it wasn’t true, and Purdue knew it, the Times reveals.
And this surprise you how?
Much more at the link.