Misunderstanding or Misdirection? 0
Jared Bernstein, in another excellent article, points out that Republican statements on health care and other aspects of the “social safety net” betray (or portray) an essential misunderstanding of how insurance works.
It’s like the old joke about life insurance: You’re betting you’re going to die, the insurance company is betting you won’t, and you hope they are right.
The purpose of experience is to spread risk so that each person bears a little tine bit of the cost so that, if someone needs assistance, the assistance is available without crushing expense. In contrast, Republicans seem to believe that crushing persons who do not have buckets of money under mountains of cost is somehow a good and moral thing.
Of course, that might seem reasonable to those who believe that there is no such thing as the common good. Here’s a bit from the article (emphasis added):
That’s kind of a description about how insurance works.
(snip)
Two things, at least. First, I do think today’s conservatives are uniquely uneducated when it comes to the role of government in mitigating risk. But second, the old Upton Sinclair insight about people being paid not to understand something is also very much in play.
Twits on Twitter 0
Would it be appropriate to refer to someone who sends bigoted “tweets” as a “twigot”?
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Fly the polite skies (emphasis added to highlight prima facie evidence that some persons are too stupid to be allowed weaponry).
(snip)
The passenger told authorities that he had borrowed his mother’s bag and the firearm belonged to her, according to the TSA. It is not known if he was arrested.
The TSA discovered 78 firearms in carry-on bags the same week at airports around the country. Of those, 62 were loaded and 32 had a round chambered.
Worst Aid Kit 0
Jared Bernstein, writing at Philly.com, struggles to understand why the Republican Party, with control of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, has been so far unable to accomplish their most vocally-stated goal: repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He warns that his speculation is just that, speculation, but it is a thoughtful piece and worth the few minutes of your time reading it requires.
Here’s a bit:
There may still be enough representativeness left in our democracy to block such venal efforts. But then again, there may not. Stay tuned.
Upgrade 0
Mageia v. 6 with the Plasma Desktop and the Oxygen color scheme.
The wallpaper is from my own library.
I spent time yesterday upgrading my laptop from Mageia v. 5 to Mageia v. 6.
Immunity Impunity
0
We are told that, “if you see something, say something.”
Well, that certainly worked out nicely for this lady.
What the hell sickness has infected the police?
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
It is polite to throw your grandchildren under the bus. Politeness must be a Family Value.
But the investigation continued and deputies managed to interview the 10-year-old boy after his mother contacted them.
The boy stated that his grandparents were arguing which led to Hawkins getting the pistol and shooting towards her husband. The boy told deputies that his grandmother “did not mean to” shoot his grandfather.
You can’t make this stuff up, at least, you can’t if you are sane.
Credulity Gap 0
Brian Greenspun stands amazed at the willing, compliant credulity of the Trumpettes. A snippet:
I don’t know if what happened is criminal, yet. That is what the special counsel will determine. Criminal or not — maybe the Trump team really is just incompetent and stupid — what we are watching in real time couldn’t even be conceived of in the minds of Hollywood’s most creative writers.
But, beyond all of this, what is criminal to me is that practically every Republican voter and elected official believes it is OK and patriotically American to just accept what Trump says even though what he says is now totally and demonstrably untrue.
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen follows the money trail. A snippet:
It is tempting to say that Trump built that network himself as his business empire grew, but in reality members of the network more often used him as a convenient patsy. This has been especially true of money launderers.