2016 archive
“Outside Agitators” 0
When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, the proponents of segregation and of the War in Viet Nam (not necessarily the same persons, mind you) loved to blame “outside agitators” for civil rights sit-ins and anti-war demonstrations.
The chorus of reaction hasn’t changed, but it wasn’t “outside agitators” then and it’s not “outside agitators” now.
QOTD 0
Pierre-Marc-Gaston de Lévis:
Sensitive people wish to be loved; vain people wish only to be preferred.
Kochodile Tears 0
Whatsoever they sow, therefore shall they weep.
Afterthought:
The Kochs sowed the wind. Now they reap the whirlwind.
There is truth in scripture, if you read it aright.
Malpractice 0
About damned time (more at the link).
“I don’t think I have any other choice,” said Senior Judge Justin Quackenbush, after rejecting the claim of the psychologists’ lawyer that the two are immune from civil liability, according to the Huffington Post.
The lawsuit was first filed in a federal court in Spokane, Washington in October 2015 by Suleiman Abdullah Salim, a Tanzanian citizen, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, a Libyan citizen, and the family of Gul Rahman, an Afghan citizen who froze to death at a secret CIA prison in Kabul. All three men allege that they were subject to some of the harshest physical and psychological torture methods while in CIA custody.
Psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the defendants in the case, were paid $81 million to help teach the CIA torture methods based on past experiments on dogs and were deeply involved in their implementation.
For a measly $81,000,000, they were complicit in throwing a veneer of science over sadism. But the persons truly responsible–those who wrote that $81,000,000 check–will, I am certain, never face any penalty, let alone anything remotely resembling justice.
The Art of the Pitch 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Gleb Tsipursky tries to understand the appeal of Trumpery and concludes it’s all in the pitch.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness starts young.
The child was taken to a hospital, but he eventually died from his injuries.
Police believe the child somehow got ahold of the firearm, and accidentally shot himself.
According to the story, a man is being held on charges of “negligent homicide.” To find out why this is a crime and not just another tragic accident, follow the link; the reason should be immediately apparent.
The Rights Balance 0
In NRA Paradise, the “rights” of ammosexuals to play with their ammosexual appendages trump all other rights, but there are worms–nay, wormwood–in the NRA apple. Bruce Greenspun writes eloquently at the Las Vegas Sun. A snippet.
But none of those, I submit, is as precious as the right of a young child to be able to grow up free from the constant fear of being shot to death on the schoolyard, in the classroom, in a movie theater, in a church parking lot or anywhere else that has long been a violence-free zone in America. Until recently.
I am certain I am not the only grandfather or father who fears the phone call that says the school where a grandchild or child attends is on lockdown because some crazy person with an assault rifle or machine gun or whatever else he could get his hands on is shooting up the place.
Just read it.
The Politics of Peep Shows 0
Facing South examines businesses’ reaction to Mississippi’s “It’s Okay To Hate the Gay” Law and finds that they brought onto themselves.
But many of the companies objecting to the law had a hand in helping elect its sponsors and the governor who signed it.
In all, 24 companies publicly opposing HB 1523 either directly supported Bryant and state House sponsors via campaign donations, indirectly helped them by making donations to outside political spending groups that funneled money back into state elections, or both. In all, the anti-HB 1523 companies donated almost $14.6 million to help elect pro-HB 1523 politicians.
As you recall, Facing South found the same thing in North Carolina.
These businesses voted their pocketbooks with their pocketbooks and ended up sanctioning peep shows for pervy pols.
The “Trump Effect” 0
In related news, Berwood Yost looks at the news coverage of voter registration figures and finds that a fascination with Trumpery and other bright shiny things has led to skewed reportage. Here’s a snippet:
How could the media and their expert commentators be so mistaken? The answer could be the real “Trump effect”: Members of the media were captured by the compelling national storyline about the Trump candidacy. Knowingly or not, they substituted what they knew was happening elsewhere for what they thought might be happening in Pennsylvania. That’s a too-common mistake when many of us make quick judgments, particularly about those things that seem to confirm what we think we know.
Image via Job’s Anger.
The Courage of Their Carryings-On 0
Forty-two plaintiffs, seeking to represent users of the website who had their information compromised, had proceeded anonymously against Ashley Madison’s Toronto-based parent company Avid Life Media, the ruling released on 6 April showed.
Plaintiffs leading a lawsuit against online dating website Ashley Madison over a security breach that exposed the personal data of customers must publicly identify themselves to proceed with the case, a US judge has ruled.I really can’t find it in me to have much sympathy for the plaintiffs.
Really, the chutzpah just leaves me sputtering.