From Pine View Farm

March, 2018 archive

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Fondling firearms leads to foul-up.

Investigators believe the men were inside a car in a parking lot next to the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy around 3:45 p.m. and were handling a gun when it discharged, hitting one of them in the leg and the other in the hand, said Sandy Police Sgt. Jason Nielsen.

They just couldn’t keep their hands off their penile prosthesis.

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QOTD 0

Dave Sim:

If you haven’t signed anything, you cant be ripped off.

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Email Link Broken Fixed (Sticky) 0

The email link on the sidebar seems to be malfunctioning. I’ll get to it this week. (I’m not in a hurry because it’s rarely used and, when it is used, it’s normally spam or, worse, SEO “consultants,” the carrion crows of the inter webs. As I’ve mentioned before, this is a hobby and a learning experience, and I shall not allow it to discombobulate me.) In the interim, if you must needs tell me something, just comment on this post.

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Lessons Learned 0

What Atrios said.

Experiments fail. Even noble ones.

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Dismayed and Disheartened 0

Above the Law’s Elie Mystal is dismayed and disheartened. Here’s a snippet from his post.

We live in a failed state.

Follow the link to learn why he said that.

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At the Meeting 0

Three cowboys sitting on a porch.  One says,

Aside:

Frankly, I suspect that this is not too far off from how many NRA members see themselves: As characters–the heroes, of course–in a Western.

Image via Job’s Anger.

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Dealing from the Top of the Deck 0

The Des Moines Register’s Kathie Obradovich discusses a new twist in the Republican gut-out-the-vote playbook. A snippet:

The Iowa Senate last week approved a bill that would put Republicans at the top of the ballot in 98 out of 99 counties for the 2018 general election.

This may not seem like a huge deal to people who take time to learn who’s running for office before they show up to vote. But the fact is, numerous studies have shown that the party whose candidates come first on the ballot have an advantage.

Senate File 2346 would require county auditors to put partisan candidates on the election ballot according to the results of the last governor’s election. So if Republicans won the governor’s race in that county, as they did in all but Johnson County in 2014, their candidates would top the ballot.

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Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0

Trumpled Walmart shoppers.

A family says they were harrassed outside the Bryant Walmart (Arkansas–ed.) when a man started yelling racially charged messages at them as they tried to load their groceries. Some of the interaction was caught on camera.

“My mother was fearful that he might pull out a firearm too. That’s what she told me afterward,” said Maria Meneses.

Meneses says the man was standing outside his car taking pictures of her family and their vehicle.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Slow learner.

At some point LeClair gave a loaded magazine to King. King then unwittingly loaded the fatal shot before the rifle was set aside.

Later, Sack picked up the rifle while the other three men were looking at their cell phones.

Sack told police that he looked through the scope but was unable to see because of what he thought was poor lighting. Not realizing the scope caps were down, Sack then swung the rifle towards King and touched the trigger, shooting King in the head.

Sack told police he “knew he should have treated the gun as if it were loaded” as he was instructed to do in hunter safety courses.

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QOTD 0

S. S. Van Dine:

He took one of the fish out of the water with a small net, and it inflated itself into the shape of a ball.

“Curious idea,” Stamm commented, “–blowing oneself up into a ball to keep from being swallowed.”

“Oh, quite human, I should say,” Vance returned dryly. “All our politicians do the same thing.”

Van Dine, S. S. (Willard Huntington Wright), The Dragon Murder Case in
The Philo Vance Murder Cases, v. 4 (London: Leontaur, 2010), p-. 173-174

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Where No Man Has Gone Before 0

Via The Bob Cesca After Party.

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The Cruelty of the Crazy 0

warning: Language.

Leonard Pitts, Jr., has more.

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Move Along Now–Nothing To See Here 0

Image of a paper titled

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Fiefdom of the Press 0

Image:  Persons staring at spiraling image on TV.  Caption:  There are 1500 newspapers, 1100 magazines, 9000 radio stations, 1400 TV stations, 2400 publishers owned by only 6 corporations.

Via Job’s Anger.

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An Accidental Truth 0

I find it notable that the audio regarding the conversation with Trudeau was leaked by a “Republican donor.” Could it be that someone is fed up?

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The Edit 0

Title:  More Exactly.  Image:  Lincoln's statement:  You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.  The phrase

Click for the original image.

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QOTD 0

Leonard Cohen:

The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world.

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Try a Low-Fad Diet 0

Title:  Beyond the Paleo.  Frame One:  Find modern life emasculating?   Try a pseudo-scientific diet (Image of caveman growling,

Click for the original image.

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An iKey for Your iJunk 0

El Reg reports:

Known as GrayKey, the box is reportedly being marketed as a way to unlock iPhones without needing the key code. The hardware is reportedly offered in two forms: an internet-connected model that costs $15,000 with a 300 use limit, and an offline model costing $30,000 with no unlock limit.

The GrayKey site itself is hidden behind a registration wall, and maker GrayShift simply says the product “is not for everybody”. The biz did not respond to a request for comment.

Antivirus outfit MalwareBytes says it was able to get a closer look at the device and its underlying technology, and the company does not like what it sees. Researcher Thomas Reed said the device carries with it some “significant security risks”.

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Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0

Words sometimes catch up with you.

A Facebook post shared by a Springfield firefighter that the city says led to his firing contained a racial slur, and mocked school dropouts and McDonald’s employees.

Bradley Baugh was fired on March 9 after only a few weeks with the Springfield Fire/Rescue Division, according to city records obtained by the Springfield News-Sun through a public records request.

City representatives refused to reveal the contents of the post; they would say only that it was “awful.”

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