There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Linkee-poo runs with the bull

Still trying to catch up. Next week is the final for Nutrition, I still need to schedule the PTCB test for certification, and by the time I probably get my (web content and links) to-read-list down to 0, I'm going on vacation for a week. Go me.

The wax seal re-emerges for the modern age. (Grokked from Joe Hill)

Here's a few connected links (in my head, probably no where else). First up is a little historical perspective on the current polarization of politics. Which is party responsible for Romney's supposed non-shift "back" to the center. Mix in a little truth to power about what is really wrong in the current discourse. And in case you don't really want to say it's the GOP's fault, here a little on some of the complete bat-shit insanity that has infected the party; in this case, the "war on the (nonexistent) religion of secularism." That kind of philosophy spring from a party obsessed with retrograde myopic dream-quests and a continually reactionary stance to anything new (okay, I'll admit, I like that they helped rescue Coke "Classic", but I think that was part of Coke's plan all along). But it's a good thing the guy sittin' in the big chair is ready for the fight.

Dial-a-bullet chain-guns in development. Okay, it's cool tech, but a step back, IMHO. And at 5 rounds/sec, I'd rather have the 1200 rounds of mix than 400 rounds that I can select from (and run out "green tipped" rounds I want). Seriously, are there gunners out there that are really asking for this? (Grokked from John Scalzi)

Wow, there's a whole lotto shaking going on in Romney's closet of skeletons. Sigh. Time to don the fire-proof hip-waders. We might need a whole fire-proof positive-pressure chemical suit this election season. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

I remember talking about Islamic misogyny and the "culture of the male" with someone who couldn't see beyond their own cultural blinders and they told me that things like that don't happen in the US or in Christianity. Uh, yeah, Bob.

A while back, during a discussion regarding Sharia Law, I made the comment that the US already acknowledges several religious laws, and people work within and seek appeal to many more. I've also made the comment that Islam isn't the only religion that oppresses women, and that it's really a cultural thing (and not tied to religion, although the proponents of those religions would argue that their views come from their religious tradition). Some people challenged me on this. Well, here's another first hand view into one of those non-Islam religious law and cultures within the US. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

And, in case you missed it, Jon Stewart delivers an excellent take down of the recent GOP talking heads "controversy" over Obama's ad. While he didn't say it during this episode, I think it was last year when he complained, "You're not even making this hard. We've taken to hissing the video tape around the office just to make this sporting."

So, in the past I've linked to charts showing how the top 10%'s income has risen drastically when compared to all other income brackets. But, you may be asking yourself, what about wage gains for the workers? Okay, how about a chart that compares productivity against wage gains. Want to guess where all those profits from the productivity gains since the 70s went?

So let's check in with Massachusetts, "In the tight U.S. Senate race… Democrat Elizabeth Warren has been playing defense because of allegations that she used her Native American heritage to advance her career…Warren… says she did not know that Harvard Law School touted her as a member of a minority group back in the 1990s, when the school's faculty came under criticism for being too white… Warren was also identified as a minority in professional legal directories for years… (historical documents) suggests that Warren is 1/32 Native American." This is an issue? Ah, your liberal media at work, "ZOMG, your opponent says you used your questionable minority status to get where you are, because obviously you aren't smart enough or good enough on your own, what do you say to that?" To which the correct answer is, "Bwa, wait, what?" But do you know what this really is? This is more of the war on women, because guess what other protected minority status she could claim? But the Brown Campaign knows that attacking her success on those grounds will lose them the election, they start spreading this rumor. Here's what the reporters should say to those spreading the rumors, "You're making a substantial claim, what evidence do you have that she used her Native American Heritage to get, keep, advance, or otherwise influence her superiors?" You know, like PolitiFact does routinely (and reports also used to do).

Alligator Quotient: the problem with crazy is it's just like Doritos, the people manufacturing it "just make more."

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