Via El Reg.
Sat 31 Jul 2010
iMitt
Posted by Frank under Geek Stuff
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Sat 31 Jul 2010
Point Counterpoint
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Sat 31 Jul 2010
The President’s Weekly Address, Republican Nope Dept.
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Excerpt:
At a time when America is just starting to move forward again, we can’t afford the do-nothing policies and partisan maneuvering that will only take us backward. I won’t stand here and pretend everything’s wonderful. I know that times are tough. But what I also know is that we’ve made it through tough times before. And we’ll make it through again. The men and women hard at work in this plant make me absolutely confident of that.
Sat 31 Jul 2010
Anne Rice FAIL
Posted by Frank under Personal Musings
1 Comment
Anne Rice falls into a trap that many persons have fallen into: Confusing those who call themselves “Christian” with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ.
Afterthought:
Sadly, those who call themselves “Christian” (and whom Andrew Sullivan calls “Christianists“) are the often the strongest argument against the teachings and example Jesus Christ.
Where he was gentle, they are harsh.
Where he was kind, they are cruel.
Where he was forgiving, they condemn.
Where he loved, they hate.
They cause me shame to profess my faith.
In a related vein, I listened to this interview Friday.
It is worth your while, if not to listen, to read the excerpts from the transcript; the subject of the interview gets the difference between Chrisitianism and Christianity, and it cost him his job.
Sat 31 Jul 2010
QOTD II
Posted by Frank under First Looks
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Sat 31 Jul 2010
QOTD
Posted by Frank under First Looks
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George Bernard Shaw, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Dustbiters
Posted by Frank under Masters of the Universe
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You can trust your friendly neighborhood bank, except when it’s run by incompetents and is too small not to fail:
-
LibertyBank, Eugene, Oregon
The Cowlitz Bank, Longview, Washington
Coastal Community Bank, Panama City, Florida
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Misdirection Play, Af-Pak Dept.
Posted by Frank under Give Me a Break
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I can be equivocal* on the effort in Afghanistan, but I’m calling bullshit on this. This is PR damage-control bullshit:
As if any thinking person doesn’t realize that persons in Afghanistan or Pakistan already know what’s going on there on both, or on all three, or on however-the-hell-many sides there are in that mess.
There are few similiarities between the Wiki-Leaks leak and the Pentagon Papers, but there are two. Both include stuff that
- the Pentagon and the government and even the allied governments already knew, and
- the Pentagon and the government and even the allied governments did not want their citizenry (citizenries?) to know.
Until Wiki-Leaks is caught offing wedding parties with drones, I shall keep calling bullshit.
________________________
*I am equivocal.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Gone Gnomes
Posted by Frank under The Comedy Around Us
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The big question is, did they get David?
Someone snuck (sic) into Gibson’s front lawn and snatched close to 150 (lawn gnomes–ed.).
“I had them all along the flower bed here and then I had them on the brick,” Gibson said as she pointed toward her fence. “I had them all out in front of my flower pots.”
Gibson figures the thief or thieves stole close to $2,000 worth of lawn gnomes.
I’m trying to visualize a yard with 200 gnomes.
To my relief, I am unable to.
Video at the link.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Keeping the Chesapeake at Bay
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Nothing much to add to this, except that all these locations are in the Upper Bay, where I used to go boating and where my kids went to scout and YMCA camps.
For comparison, the team also took two water samples from a household toilet: one while it was clean, and another after human feces had sat in it for four hours.
After rain on July 15, the tests showed that three of the seven sites had bacteria levels far higher than Maryland and Virginia standards for safe recreation, and five were above the level for safe swimming. Two — Savage Park in Howard County and Middle Branch Park in Baltimore — had bacteria levels much higher than the dirty toilet.
Deregulation will undoubtedly fix this.
Also, you may already have won.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Double Standards: Rangeling Ensign
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Steve Benen wants to know, when Ensign is facing criminal charges and Rangel is facing (probably) censure at best . . . .
Rangel is facing a probe from the House ethics committee, while Ensign is under scrutiny from the FBI.
Is this just the IOKIYAR rule taken to the extreme? Was there some kind of memo stating that only Democratic scandals deserve media attention in an election year?
I think there’s more to it than IOKIYAR. Most reporters and pundits with a national audience cluster in New York and Washington; the major news organizations are headquartered in New York.
Rangel is local news for them. Except for conventions on the Lost Wages Strip, Nevada is just some place out there somewhere that they rarely visit and know little about.
They’ve decided what to write for their columns and commentaries each day before folks in the Mountain Time Zone are getting to work.
Unless it happens to Lindsey Lohan or Jennifer Anniston, they have no idea what’s going on west of Leesburg, Virginia.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
While I Was Out
Posted by Frank under Life under the Regency
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Virginia AG Cuccinelli finally passed his US Navy Vets campaign contributions to an outfit that will use them to benefit real vets. The founder of US Navy Vets is still missing and unaccounted for. Assuming the money was invested at 4% compound interest for the three or four months since the US Navy Vets was revealed to be a likely fraud, he might kick in an extra $500-700.
In other news, he continues to believe that mysterious magical thinking counteracts the laws of physics, biology, and chemistry.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Limbo
Posted by Frank under First Looks
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I know these folks. Ever since I first met them, they has been planning and talking about this, taking pains to play by the rules and do everything within the law and above board.
And now they are twisting slowy in the wind.
Fri 30 Jul 2010
Americans Are Weird
Posted by Frank under The Comedy Around Us
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You can’t make this stuff up.
The rule in question is designed to keep persons from spilling vuctuals on the floor to attracting varmints. It is anti-varmint victual, not anti-infant ingestion.
Thu 29 Jul 2010
Light Bloggery
Posted by Frank under First Looks
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Family business.
Back tomorrow.
Wed 28 Jul 2010
Contract on America
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Wed 28 Jul 2010
Dress Code
Posted by Frank under The Comedy Around Us
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This is an oldy but moldy. I heard it on Michael Feldman’s show and found a transcript here.
Dress Code: It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary.
If we see you wearing $350 Prada shoes and carrying a $600 Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.
If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.
If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.
Wed 28 Jul 2010
Driving while Brown
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Arizona racial profiling on hold:
Key parts of (Arizona) SB 1070 that will not go into effect Thursday:
- The portion of the law that requires an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there’s reasonable suspicion they’re in the country illegally.
- The portion that creates a crime of failure to apply for or carry “alien-registration papers.”
- The portion that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work. (This does not include the section on day laborers.)
- The portion that allows for a warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe they have committed a public offense that makes them removable from the United States.
The ruling says that law enforcement still must enforce federal immigration laws to the fullest extent of the law when SB 1070 goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Individuals will still be able to sue an agency if they adopt a policy that restricts such enforcement.
Bolton did not halt the part of the law that creates misdemeanors crimes for harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.
Reactions from Arizona pols and their promises to appeal are at the link.
Wed 28 Jul 2010
The Economy Is in the Toilet Indicators
Posted by Frank under Political Economy
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Karen explains:
Joe was at a woman’s house the other day. She has leaks on all 3 toilets she has in her house. He was able to repair 2 of them, but the 3rd has to be replaced. She’s going to check with her neighbor to see if they have an old toilet they changed out, that she can have. Her house has been on the market for 18 months, with no serious offers. And she’s in prime area, in Golden.
More at the link.
Wed 28 Jul 2010
The Entitlement Society
Posted by Frank under Titans of Industry
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The Boston Globe, on Tony Hayward’s $18,500,000.00 severance pay for performance package from Buccaneer Petroleum:
Wed 28 Jul 2010
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society”
Posted by Frank under Gunnuttery
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Miss Manners would be proud.
One:
I feel the same way about tailgaters, but trying to off them is probably not the best way to express it:
Haislip was tailgating Crickenberger, who then ran a stop sign, a sheriff’s news release said.
“Crickenberger became mad as to the way Haislip was driving,“ the release said.
When Haislip pulled off at the Harvey Williams Garage, Crickenberger followed him. Cursing between the men turned physical, the release said, and Crickenberger reportedly took a .380 handgun from his car and shot Haislip in the neck.
Two:
And squeezing off a couple of rounds withing city limits just for the heck of it is frowned upon by persons within range:
Three:
The Driving Lesson.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jeremy Boggs said in court Tuesday that Campbell fired six times at the vehicle Samual Campbell was driving north on Jack’s Hill Road. Boggs said four of the shots hit the vehicle and two missed.
“Campbell believes that his uncle did this because he accuses him of driving too fast on the roadway,” the search warrant stated.
Wed 28 Jul 2010
QOTD
Posted by Frank under First Looks
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Rex Stout, quoted by his daughter, Rebecca Stout Bradbury, in the introduction to The Bloodied Ivy:
An educated person is one who has the capacity to distinguish the important from the unimportant . . . .
Tue 27 Jul 2010
The Journey Home
Posted by Frank under The Comedy Around Us
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Teenage girl steals puppy.
Parents find it was stolen and make her give it back.
It says something that this is considered news.
Tue 27 Jul 2010
Spill Here, Spill Now
Posted by Frank under Titans of Industry
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Buccaneer Petroleum’s approach to drilling: They thought they were playing with Tinker Toys and Erector Sets.
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Meanwhile, there are a plethora of allegations that BP pushed workers to speed the completion of drilling using cost-cutting methods. The rig rental was costing about $1 million a day and work was 43 days behind schedule. On the day of the explosion, BP managers didn’t bother with a time-consuming “cement bond log” test that would have discovered problems in the cementing of the well. The company also did not use 21 “centralizers” to position the well before cementing — the recommended number — and instead used just six. And there are other examples where the company chose the less expensive and more risky option. It may not be that any one of these actions alone led to the blowout, but the combination was deadly.
Tue 27 Jul 2010
“Walk across America”
Posted by Frank under Geek Stuff
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Tue 27 Jul 2010
Misdirection Play
Posted by Frank under Republican Hypocrisy
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The Nation analyzes the instant replay of the Sherrod play. To anyone who has studied the race-baiting demogues of the Jim Crow era, the Pitchfork Ben Tilghmans and the like, it’s a familiar strategy, much older than the excerpt below describes. Fake left with the race and go right with the economy:
Tue 27 Jul 2010
Breadlines, Anyone?
Posted by Frank under Political Economy
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Why more stimulus is needed:
The report, a result of a survey by the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties, showed local governments are moving to cut the equivalent of 8.6 percent of their workforces from 2009 to 2011. That suggests 481,000 employees will lose their jobs, according to the report, which said the tally may yet rise.
Tue 27 Jul 2010
VoteVets Energy Ad
Posted by Frank under Political Theatre
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Aside:
The slap at Iran may be good marketing, but it ignores that Iran imports more fuel than it exports; I believe I’ve read that it has the resources, but not the refining capacity.
Via the Richmonder.
Tue 27 Jul 2010
Stray Thought
Posted by Frank under Personal Musings
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It’s not black folks who are afraid to confront racism in America. They confront it every day.
It’s we white folks.
Tue 27 Jul 2010
QOTD
Posted by Frank under First Looks
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