May, 2016 archive
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
One more time: The next time you hear someone lamenting the “Lost Cause,” ask, “What, exactly, was the cause that was lost?”
Purists, Reprise 0
John Aravosis takes on the Bernie purists. A snippet:
He’s quite correct.
Elections are not about purity, they are about winning. I say to the purists, “Grow up and vote in the real world. It’s the only world we have.”
Follow the link for the whole thing. It’s worth your while.
“Delivered to Your Door” 0
Take a look at this gallery from SeattlePI and decide whether the game is worth the candle (SeattlePI is all that’s left of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a once-fine newspaper, my paper of choice when I was in that part of the world).
When I was a in high school, I went through a sci-fi phase (Isaac Asimov was my favorite sci-fi author and should be yours too). I read a story I forget what it was called by an author I forget who it was which envisioned a future in which nobody ever left his or her room. All interaction was via some sort of futuristic television. It was not a nice place to be.
That future is now.
Afterthought:
I have a solution for persons who need to get out more.
Get out more.
T(TP) Party 0
Governments who wish to snoop on their citizenry are fond of expressing the thought that, if you have nothing to hide, you won’t mind the intrusion (which is a fallacy, natch; some things should be private because they are nobody else’s damn business). Just for grins and giggles, let’s suppose the reasoning is valid and ask, does it cut both ways?
Read a bit of Trevor Timm’s remarks about the negotiations for the TTP and TTIP trade deals:
What progressive champion Senator Elizabeth Warren said then is even more true now: “If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States.”
Follow the link for much, much more.
Eyes on the Prize 0
Alfred Doblin doesn’t think much of Cracker Jacks’s new prizes, which will require access to either an Android or iJunk device to use, for Pete’s sake, or of what they may indicate. A snippet:
A 5-year-old boy should not need a smartphone and app to delight in a cheap prize. The prize was never the actual thing; it was in the unwrapping of the thing, the discovery of it, the touch and feel of it.
Take that away and we are diminished as people. We see a bunch of angry Americans pushing police cars not because of racial injustice, but because they dislike Donald Trump, and we call that “chaos.” We witness a tidal wave of refugees who want nothing more than a chance to live and we call that none of our business.
The Scalias of Justice 0
Dick Polman reports that some conservatives are now singing, “Gather ye Garlands while ye may.“
“Do unto Others” 0
A snapshot of Donald Trump’s America.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still nicely under 300k.
(snip)
The four-week average of jobless claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, rose to 258,000 from 256,000 in the prior week. Filings have been below 300,000 for 61 weeks — the longest stretch since 1973 and a level economists say is consistent with a healthy labor market.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell by 8,000 to 2.12 million in the week ended April 23, the lowest level since November 2000.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
(Warning: Pap has been feeling the Bern. Take what he says about Hillary Clinton and down-ballot candidates with a grain or maybe even a whole damn lick of salt.)
Shaun Mullen offers his own take on the role of the media. Here’s a snippet:
Did Not! Did Too! Did Not! Did Too! 0
The Guardian looks in on the circular firing squad: Republicans attempting to figure out who’s to blame for Trump.
This is the same bunch who have spent the last eight years pandering to the worst of America. They shouldn’t be surprised that, now, they’ve got it.