2016 archive
Headline of the Day 0
Hampton Roads flooded with rain — nearly 8 inches have fallen with more on the way
(Schools are closed because school buses can’t complete their routes. And, no, this sort of stuff did not happen in the olden days when I was a young ‘un growing up in these here parts.)
Made Up Stuff You See on Television 0
If you watch mystery shows, you’ve seen them.
Those scenes in which a police officer, usually Our Hero, the Great Detective, has to re-qualify on the firing range: The officer walks into a simulated alley as figures representing gangsters or law-abiding citizens pop up in the smoke. The officer has to decide quickly whether to shoot or not. Errors result in penalties.
If such trials do indeed exist in real life, they clearly do not work and there are certainly no penalties.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness! You can’t handle the politeness!
A University of Iowa master’s student has died in an accidental shooting in western Iowa.
Friends say 24-year-old Megan Sloss was shot inside a car in Sac County on Sunday. The shooting happened when a passenger was handling a handgun that accidentally fired.
The Snaring Economy 0
One more time, Uber and Lyft are nothing more than gypsy cabs with cellphones.
Culture Wars and Mongers of Culture Wars 0
Jackie tries to pick a side.
Chris-Crossed, for Whom the Bridge Tolls Dept. 2
Dick Polman marvels at the disparate treatment.
We all know what would happen. The mainstream media would nail Clinton for the “perception” that a “shadow” had been cast over her campaign. They would assail her for refusing to dump the aide. They would amplify Donald Trump’s inevitable declaration that this episode proved the perfidy of “Crooked Hillary.”
But since Trump is inexplicably permitted to play by banana-republic rules, there will be no such equivalent oucry over the fact that his own transition leader, Chris Christie, was outed yesterday in federal court by a prosecutor who said he was fully aware of the bridge closures while they were happening. It was a milestone moment in the long-running scandal, the first time that a federal official has said such a thing in a formal judicial proceeding, and it flatly contradicted Christie’s long-running lie (which he repeated Sunday on CNN) that he has been exonerated by all the investigations.
More troubled waters at the link.
“Go Do That Voodoo That You Do So Well” 0
He had been banned for the store (what, one wonders, must one do to be banned from a doughnut shop?), so he decided to spread his spell . . . .
Ean Mandrake Card, 20, had been banned from Voodoo Donuts, but Eugene police said that he returned around 6:45 a.m. Sunday to smear what appeared to be marshmallow creme on the store’s patio furniture and windows.
Her Word Is Her Bondi 0
Appearances must be maintained at all costs, stiff-upper lip, pip-pip, and all that, eh, what.
Much more “eh, what” and “pip, pip” at the link.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Share your politeness.
She told police she took the magazine out of the 9mm Canik pistol, put the magazine back in, and as she held the gun in her hand, a bullet fired, Bellingham police Lt. Mike Johnston said.
The round struck the man’s right leg above the ankle.
I have figured out how all these guns fire on their own. As their ammosexual owners caress them, the weapons eventually reach a peak of excitement that makes inevitable a premature–er–discharge.
Afterthought:
Gun nuts refer to this phenomenon as “cleaning my gun.”
The Candidates Debate 0
Tony Norman looks forward to what should happen, but won’t, at Monday’s Presidential debate. A bit (emphasis added):
Even if the moderators commit journalistic malpractice and fail to ask Mr. Trump about Mr. Obama, his conspiracy theories still remain a target-rich environment. Remember when he jumped on the “Justice Antonin Scalia was murdered” bandwagon? Since he doesn’t have detailed policy recommendations about the economy, foreign policy or military preparedness, he might as well be asked about the lies he tells on Twitter.
“Even if,” my anatomy. Try “when.”
In corporate media’s, particularly broadcast media’s, coverage of the Trump campaign “journalistic malpractice” has been the norm.
Legacy, Bushie Style 0
Thom wonders when, if ever, the buck will stop where it belongs.
Chris-Crossed: A Bridge Too Far 0
And this surprises anyone how?
(snip)
The evidence will show that Baroni and Wildstein were so committed to their plan to punish mayor Sokolich during those few minutes they had alone with the Governor they bragged about the fact there were traffic problems in Fort Lee and Mayor Sokolich was not getting his calls returned,” Khanna said.
Battle on the Balcony 0
Oh! What a tangled web we weave,
When we must our hunger to relieve.
This was fascinating. I noticed the cicada suspended in air, then watched the spider approach cautious. All at one, the spider jumped on her captive and slew him with her venom, then backed off to observe its death throes. Once it prey stopped moving, she moved in for a final coup.
