Paul Ryan is (again) running a phone-in poll on Obamacare. "Paul Ryan's office is conducting a phone poll… Call (202) 225-0600… Press 2 to weigh in on the issue. You'll hear a recording about the bill to repeal it, then Press 1 to support continuing the Affordable Healthcare Act. It takes less than 2 minutes!" When I called this morning it's been busy. This is what, his 4th poll. Note he hasn't released the results of the earlier polls. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Some continuing concerns over California's new signed memorabilia law and how it relates to autographed books.
Jason Sanford releases a recommended reading list for titles release in 2016.
So, after performing a dope-ass smack-down of a detractor on Twitter, "Wendy's made a major misstep Wednesday when a community manager tweeted a meme featuring the most prominent symbol of the white nationalist so-called 'alt-right,' Pepe the frog, made to look like the fast food chain's mascot." Oh Wendy's, boy have you lost any remaining business I might have given you. Full disclosure, Wendy's was my first paycheck job. And yes, I know the meat is fresh because one of my many jobs there involved pressing patties on the night shift. One of the many reasons that given the option, even with it being more expensive over McDs, I would buy Wendy's. Now probably only will happen if my wife insists on it. Hold your protest, if your "community manager(s)" aren't more aware of the social media landscape you really shouldn't have hired them.
Sketches demonstrating how to light photography. And don't forget to white balance. (Grokked from BoingBoing)
You know that show, "Drunk History"? Well, funny thing… "Ultimately, the book he did write, Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History, tells the story of a time when water was full of deadly bacteria, making alcohol the safest liquid to consume." And yes, some of the alcohol our fore fathers made would kill you (just like how people kill themselves with opioids and other drugs today).
Rethinking ancient Egyptian pot burials.
"A mighty membrane that twists and turns through the gut is starting the new year with a new classification: the structure, called the mesentery, has been upgraded to an organ." It's not as big a deal as the media is portraying it (unless you're in research). Mostly people are now thinking, "I wonder what else it does?" Mostly it hold your guts together and in relative positioning, providing a structure for them and for the vasculature. It was thought of as mostly connective tissues, but with the new classification research will be devoted to finding other functions. And again, it shows just how little we actually know. (Grokked from Dan)
Everybody likes conservative ideals, until they realize they're the ones who will get screwed. In this case, hunters who use federal lands in Wyoming are a little upset about proposals to return federal land to the states (who really can't manage them, but figure they can cash in by selling them off). Welcome to the new range wars.
Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who heads the committee that will lead the charge to repeal Obamacare tweets "Do you support the repeal of Obamacare? RT if you do, and share what you want to see as the replacement." gets an earful back. Single-payor, Rep. Blackburn. Sometimes you should read the comments.
NPR fact checks some of the claims flying around about Obamacare. Especially important to know the facts as conservatives attempt to dismantle the ACA. And here I'll call BS on the "replace" part of their plan. If you start with "repeal" without the "replace" plan in place and ready to go, it is just a repeal (no matter what they promise or say there's a schedule to come up with a replacement plan). It's a shell game. It's Whimpy telling you he'll gladly pay Tuesday for a hamburger today. He's not going to pay, and you're out the hamburger. At this point any "repeal" or "rollback" or "defunding" without a replacement plan will be a disaster, which the conservatives will try to foist off on being "Obamacare's fault". This is like their attempt to blame Democrats with the government shutdowns. Only they may get a lot more people to believe it this time. Democrats should be setting this move up. "You break it, you bought it."
What's your superpower. Mine are detecting bullshit and humor. My Kryptonite, that you don't get to know. It's very hard to find and when it's accurately deployed it doesn't sap my strength, it turns me into a rage-blind supervillain. I really hope I'm never asked this in an interview or have it on the agenda of a meeting or I might violate Super Power Pro-tip #3. (Grokked from Jer)
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Linkee-poo says you look so fine that I really wanna make you mine
US Call to Action. Find the number for your representative and call. (Grokked from Small Beer Press)
Mary Robinette Kowal, seeing that Cat Rambo is also running drops her bid for SFWA President.
"John Berger and Susan Sontag take us inside the art of storytelling" (video from 1983). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"A curated list of creative writing competitions, contests and awards" for 2017. Many have entry fees, see general disclaimer on contests that charge writers for entry. I suggest vetting them through other sources (I actually suggest vetting them all through other sources). (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)
Tobias Buckell on bullet journaling. Having a system for keeping track of ideas is excellent. I'm not sure I could do this without sever modification (also pointing to this as Tobias explains his own modification). However I'm also point to because of the focus on both quality materials and finding a physical format that works. I also echo Tobias' statement on how crappy standard US notepaper is. For those of you here long enough you know I had special notecards printed up for my classes because what I could buy was both wrong size and shit for paper (constantly poking through the paper or snapping the point of my pencil). I'm left handed and let me tell you that form is very important. Lately I've taken to making my own notebooks (I have access to a comb binding setup) with premium paper, a grid pattern for the page (printed much lighter than commercially available), and half page size (5.5" x 8.5", which is close to the A5 size). So far I've used these notebooks on a much more consistent basis than any previous attempts. Again, with any advice, find what works for you, chuck everything that doesn't work for you. Spend money on your tools (before this I used a lot of school composition books, which I still like) to get quality (more expensive does not always equate to quality).
Lascaux IV is open. What I wouldn't give to go inside the original cave, but I'll take a replica this fine any day (hint, in many museums that might just be what you're looking at anyway). The only problem with this is that most of megaliths are in the North of France (from what I can tell, anyone have other information). So for any visit we'd had to travers the whole of France to see everything I'd like to see. Yes, I know, this is what multiple visits are for, but do I look like I'm made out of time?
Dear CNN, this is not like Transformers, this is like BattleMech. Please hire a geek to keep you from making such terrible mistakes in the future.
"Louisiana is losing its coast at a rapid rate — because of rising sea levels, development and sinking marshland. Officials are trying to rebuild those marshes and the wetlands, but much of the coast can't be saved. This makes Louisiana's history an unwitting victim. As land disappears and the water creeps inland, ancient archaeology sites are washing away, too." They're trying to wash us away, they're trying to wash us away.
"Today, 41 percent of U.S. counties suffer from high levels of combined poverty and income inequality, up from just 29 percent back in 1989. Worse, as the table below shows, just 28 percent of counties have low levels of poverty and low levels of inequality. In other words, more than 70 percent of counties have either high levels of inequality, high levels of poverty, or both." Funny, those maps remind me of other maps… (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Claudio Sanchez makes predictions for what will be hot when it comes to education issues. At this time I think those are good bets. I'll also add that Trump will rebrand Common Core as "Trump's Art of the Deal for Education" and will instantly be adopted by all thoseassholes conservative governors who opposed Common Core only to offer up their own education reform, which all looked suspiciously like Common Core with the serial numbers filed off.
Chuck Wendig tweet storm on Obamacare. As someone who works in the health care industry, and has used his health insurance for more than doctor visits and z-packs, let me share my experience. Much of what is blamed on Obamacare was actually much worse before the ACA. Some of what is blamed on Obamacare is just excuse making. Obamacare isn't perfect, but you really have no idea how much the health care industry has changed for the better because of it. We now have programs that their intent is to make your stay in the hospital somewhat tolerable. For those of us focused on patient care (as in, we care about the patient), Obamacare has reorientated the industry to our thinking. One of the little touted parts of Obamacare was to change how Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements were made. Hospitals are now graded on "patient experience" and rate of re-hospitalization (return to the hospital within 30 days). Where I work we have 3 ongoing programs (at least, these are the programs that touch me) to improve the patient experience. You may think that's a given in health care, and you would be wrong. Doctors, while they can still be assholes, are slightly less assholy these days. It is no longer tolerated for a doctor to cuss out the nursing and support staff (yes, that's actually a part of Obamacare, because it affects patient care and patient experience). Response times to call lights and alarms are way down (yes, it's still not fast enough). We as employees are rewarded for focusing on you as the patient (although we still need to meet our production time quotas). These are all bonuses on top of the fact that people who need health care are getting it (for the most part). We still see people in the ER who need primary care services, but we now can refer them and expect that some of them will start getting their care elsewhere (as well as see payment for that care we have to render). We still need to fix the healthcare employee shortages, but the ACA doesn't address that (and that would take as large of legislation as Obamacare, right now the industry is focused on Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners).
"President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring back manufacturing jobs, but many of those who’ve been laid off in recent years find themselves lacking the qualifications for jobs that are already coming back." Also, there are fewer jobs to be had, and almost none of them are low-skill work. The jobs that Trump (and Republicans in general) intimated will come back are not the jobs that left. Those are gone. Permanently. Because industry has changed. Again, for those in the back, we produce as much as we ever did in this country. We just produce different things and we use one-tenth of the employees to do it.
So what do Republicans really care about? Smaller government? Lower taxes? Free-market economy? Nope. "Texas could soon follow in the footsteps of Indiana and North Carolina and pass its own "bathroom bill" in the upcoming legislative session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has made passage of such a bill, which could require transgender Texans to use the restroom which corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate, a priority." Well, that and abortion.
"President-elect Donald Trump rang in the new year together with Joseph 'Joey No Socks' Cinque — a convicted felon with ties to notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, a recently released video has revealed." You know, after Trump said he didn't know him or his past. The friends you keep. (Grokked from Fred Clark)
About that Ford moving to Mexico thing. Yeah, turns out production is still moving to Mexico, Ford just isn't going to build a new plant for them. Also, they already had committed to starting to build electric trucks here in the US (which is where those 700 jobs will be). So, for all the hoopla and chest thumping: 1) Ford's doing what they were going to do anyway, 2) Ford saves their money instead of building a new plant in Mexico, 3) jobs added in the US would have been added anyway. Not so much a win, not even a draw.
"Republicans are promising moves that would be a boon to Trump’s finances, including one tax change that could save his family $4 billion or more." I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the most Republican of ideologies would benefit billionaires to the tune of putting more billions in their accounts. And it's not a "conflict of interests", it's a direct money grab, a form of self-dealing. Given his actions with his "charitable" foundation this shouldn't come as a surprise. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Tweet of my heart: @EricBoehlert ha. On Russia, I can no longer distinguish my Breitbart trolls from the Intercept trolls--who says Trump isn't a uniter?? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
Double dip: @sam_kriss imo that "oh so anyone who disagrees with you is a nazi?" stuff carries less weight when it comes from someone called DeplorableAdolf1488 (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Mary Robinette Kowal, seeing that Cat Rambo is also running drops her bid for SFWA President.
"John Berger and Susan Sontag take us inside the art of storytelling" (video from 1983). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"A curated list of creative writing competitions, contests and awards" for 2017. Many have entry fees, see general disclaimer on contests that charge writers for entry. I suggest vetting them through other sources (I actually suggest vetting them all through other sources). (Grokked from Stewart Sternberg)
Tobias Buckell on bullet journaling. Having a system for keeping track of ideas is excellent. I'm not sure I could do this without sever modification (also pointing to this as Tobias explains his own modification). However I'm also point to because of the focus on both quality materials and finding a physical format that works. I also echo Tobias' statement on how crappy standard US notepaper is. For those of you here long enough you know I had special notecards printed up for my classes because what I could buy was both wrong size and shit for paper (constantly poking through the paper or snapping the point of my pencil). I'm left handed and let me tell you that form is very important. Lately I've taken to making my own notebooks (I have access to a comb binding setup) with premium paper, a grid pattern for the page (printed much lighter than commercially available), and half page size (5.5" x 8.5", which is close to the A5 size). So far I've used these notebooks on a much more consistent basis than any previous attempts. Again, with any advice, find what works for you, chuck everything that doesn't work for you. Spend money on your tools (before this I used a lot of school composition books, which I still like) to get quality (more expensive does not always equate to quality).
Lascaux IV is open. What I wouldn't give to go inside the original cave, but I'll take a replica this fine any day (hint, in many museums that might just be what you're looking at anyway). The only problem with this is that most of megaliths are in the North of France (from what I can tell, anyone have other information). So for any visit we'd had to travers the whole of France to see everything I'd like to see. Yes, I know, this is what multiple visits are for, but do I look like I'm made out of time?
Dear CNN, this is not like Transformers, this is like BattleMech. Please hire a geek to keep you from making such terrible mistakes in the future.
"Louisiana is losing its coast at a rapid rate — because of rising sea levels, development and sinking marshland. Officials are trying to rebuild those marshes and the wetlands, but much of the coast can't be saved. This makes Louisiana's history an unwitting victim. As land disappears and the water creeps inland, ancient archaeology sites are washing away, too." They're trying to wash us away, they're trying to wash us away.
"Today, 41 percent of U.S. counties suffer from high levels of combined poverty and income inequality, up from just 29 percent back in 1989. Worse, as the table below shows, just 28 percent of counties have low levels of poverty and low levels of inequality. In other words, more than 70 percent of counties have either high levels of inequality, high levels of poverty, or both." Funny, those maps remind me of other maps… (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Claudio Sanchez makes predictions for what will be hot when it comes to education issues. At this time I think those are good bets. I'll also add that Trump will rebrand Common Core as "Trump's Art of the Deal for Education" and will instantly be adopted by all those
Chuck Wendig tweet storm on Obamacare. As someone who works in the health care industry, and has used his health insurance for more than doctor visits and z-packs, let me share my experience. Much of what is blamed on Obamacare was actually much worse before the ACA. Some of what is blamed on Obamacare is just excuse making. Obamacare isn't perfect, but you really have no idea how much the health care industry has changed for the better because of it. We now have programs that their intent is to make your stay in the hospital somewhat tolerable. For those of us focused on patient care (as in, we care about the patient), Obamacare has reorientated the industry to our thinking. One of the little touted parts of Obamacare was to change how Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements were made. Hospitals are now graded on "patient experience" and rate of re-hospitalization (return to the hospital within 30 days). Where I work we have 3 ongoing programs (at least, these are the programs that touch me) to improve the patient experience. You may think that's a given in health care, and you would be wrong. Doctors, while they can still be assholes, are slightly less assholy these days. It is no longer tolerated for a doctor to cuss out the nursing and support staff (yes, that's actually a part of Obamacare, because it affects patient care and patient experience). Response times to call lights and alarms are way down (yes, it's still not fast enough). We as employees are rewarded for focusing on you as the patient (although we still need to meet our production time quotas). These are all bonuses on top of the fact that people who need health care are getting it (for the most part). We still see people in the ER who need primary care services, but we now can refer them and expect that some of them will start getting their care elsewhere (as well as see payment for that care we have to render). We still need to fix the healthcare employee shortages, but the ACA doesn't address that (and that would take as large of legislation as Obamacare, right now the industry is focused on Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners).
"President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring back manufacturing jobs, but many of those who’ve been laid off in recent years find themselves lacking the qualifications for jobs that are already coming back." Also, there are fewer jobs to be had, and almost none of them are low-skill work. The jobs that Trump (and Republicans in general) intimated will come back are not the jobs that left. Those are gone. Permanently. Because industry has changed. Again, for those in the back, we produce as much as we ever did in this country. We just produce different things and we use one-tenth of the employees to do it.
So what do Republicans really care about? Smaller government? Lower taxes? Free-market economy? Nope. "Texas could soon follow in the footsteps of Indiana and North Carolina and pass its own "bathroom bill" in the upcoming legislative session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has made passage of such a bill, which could require transgender Texans to use the restroom which corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate, a priority." Well, that and abortion.
"President-elect Donald Trump rang in the new year together with Joseph 'Joey No Socks' Cinque — a convicted felon with ties to notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, a recently released video has revealed." You know, after Trump said he didn't know him or his past. The friends you keep. (Grokked from Fred Clark)
About that Ford moving to Mexico thing. Yeah, turns out production is still moving to Mexico, Ford just isn't going to build a new plant for them. Also, they already had committed to starting to build electric trucks here in the US (which is where those 700 jobs will be). So, for all the hoopla and chest thumping: 1) Ford's doing what they were going to do anyway, 2) Ford saves their money instead of building a new plant in Mexico, 3) jobs added in the US would have been added anyway. Not so much a win, not even a draw.
"Republicans are promising moves that would be a boon to Trump’s finances, including one tax change that could save his family $4 billion or more." I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the most Republican of ideologies would benefit billionaires to the tune of putting more billions in their accounts. And it's not a "conflict of interests", it's a direct money grab, a form of self-dealing. Given his actions with his "charitable" foundation this shouldn't come as a surprise. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Tweet of my heart: @EricBoehlert ha. On Russia, I can no longer distinguish my Breitbart trolls from the Intercept trolls--who says Trump isn't a uniter?? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
Double dip: @sam_kriss imo that "oh so anyone who disagrees with you is a nazi?" stuff carries less weight when it comes from someone called DeplorableAdolf1488 (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Linkee-poo, 1, 2, 3, take my hand and come with me because you look so fine and i really wanna make you mine
Linkee-poo starts the New Year with fresh underwear and a sparkling spirit. Let's see how long that lasts.
Tweet and response as Jason Sanford starts his agent search. Crossing my fingers for you, Jason. Best parts of my first round of agent search: 1) was asked for a partial off the bat and 2) getting rejections from agents I didn't actually submit to (note still not agented, but I haven't kept at it for the past 4 years).
A video demonstrating paper marbling. (Grokked form Matt Staggs)
Oh look, our neighbors to the North also have some religiously ignorant people. "A Jewish farming couple from Canada says it has shepherded the sheep of the bible back to the Holy Land after centuries in exile… With donations from Jewish and Christian supporters, and some help from the Israeli government, Jenna and Gil Lewinsky have airlifted 119 furry members of the Jacob Sheep breed from their farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, to Israel… Jacob Sheep are found in the U.K. and North America, but the Lewinskys say the breed originally roamed the Middle East and ancient Israel, and their spotted and speckled coats match the description in the Book of Genesis of Jacob's flock." Yeah, not so much. I've got a great idea, let's repatriate all the French Dressing back to France.
"One Japanese insurance company, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, is reportedly replacing 34 human insurance claim workers with “IBM Watson Explorer,” starting by January 2017." Yes, no matter what you do, what sacrifices you make, the robots are coming for your jobs. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Whelp, someone actually gets it. "'People who come as refugees have great skills,' says Marc Schulman, the president of Eli's Cheesecake, which has sold cheesecakes and other baked desserts since 1980. One-third of adult refugees arriving in the U.S. have college degrees, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, a think tank that tracks the movement of people worldwide. And refugee employment is a successful model for finding skilled workers for a food business that has become high tech, says Schulman." If only Greece had been able to figure this out (but there are many cultural issues they would have had to surmount - issues which some Americans have adopted) they may have turned their economy into a workhorse of the EU.
"So in any normal sense, the Fox story was a lie. SNAP fraud isn't at an all-time high. It's been declining for years. But here's the thing: The fraud rate in 2011 may have been low, but this was in the aftermath of the Great Recession, when total SNAP payments were very high. So although the percentage is low, the dollar value of fraud clocked in at $988 million. Fox could have used this far higher number, which is, in fact, an all-time high. It's only an all-time high because SNAP was helping far more people, but still. In the Fox newsroom, that would hardly matter." This is my shocked face. This isn't the first time Fox News took a run at SNAP (you might remember the infamous "they can buy lobster" story, which they paid the guy to do the stunt because the lobster was his entire monthly SNAP benefit). Truly conservatives don't like helping people. Considering many of their leaders grew up using some of these programs, you'd think they'd have a better recollection of them. But then many don't recognize they did use programs and, at least for their leadership, they have no compassion or empathy. I say that not from a condemnation, but from an examination of their actions (note the number of stories in the past decade of when a GOP member is suddenly confronted with "hardship" in their family they have a conversion moment where they reverse their position). (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Shortly after the story was published, he wrote in the Washington Post Magazine this week, another Post reporter got a death threat for Fahrenthold, prompting the newspaper to hire a former counterterrorism official to consult with him on security." Because apparently that's how we do things in the 21st Century America. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
Sometimes, in a game of chess, you don't make plays to checkmate, you disable the opponent's ability to checkmate you. "House Republicans are moving to adopt a proposal weakening the chamber's outside ethics watchdog, removing its independence and establishing new limitations on its powers." Drain the swamp my ass. They just built the dikes to keep the water in. Also, when you're robbing a bank one of the first things you should do is blind the cameras.(Grokked from Vince O'Conner)
"Let us resolve, in the coming year, to be the people we believe ourselves to be." Jim Wright on the coming presidency. Yes, this is hard. All too easy is the road of easy snark (which is one step above petty), but yes. That's why after the election you'll note I haven't used "the Trumpster". I find it galling to say President Trump, and so might adopt a conservative talking stance of just referring to him by name. And while I believe that Trump is a walking disaster that spreads grift and corruption in his wake, I will try my best to focus on the facts and remain if not respectful to his person, deferential to the office which he will hold. YMMV.
Tweet of my heart: @MoElleithee 17 US intelligence agencies have determined that Putin waged a cyber attack on the US. The next President just tweeted an attaboy at him. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Double dip: @Gwenda One last thing: Paying attention is a political act. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
The underpants and spirit never had a chance.
Tweet and response as Jason Sanford starts his agent search. Crossing my fingers for you, Jason. Best parts of my first round of agent search: 1) was asked for a partial off the bat and 2) getting rejections from agents I didn't actually submit to (note still not agented, but I haven't kept at it for the past 4 years).
A video demonstrating paper marbling. (Grokked form Matt Staggs)
Oh look, our neighbors to the North also have some religiously ignorant people. "A Jewish farming couple from Canada says it has shepherded the sheep of the bible back to the Holy Land after centuries in exile… With donations from Jewish and Christian supporters, and some help from the Israeli government, Jenna and Gil Lewinsky have airlifted 119 furry members of the Jacob Sheep breed from their farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, to Israel… Jacob Sheep are found in the U.K. and North America, but the Lewinskys say the breed originally roamed the Middle East and ancient Israel, and their spotted and speckled coats match the description in the Book of Genesis of Jacob's flock." Yeah, not so much. I've got a great idea, let's repatriate all the French Dressing back to France.
"One Japanese insurance company, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, is reportedly replacing 34 human insurance claim workers with “IBM Watson Explorer,” starting by January 2017." Yes, no matter what you do, what sacrifices you make, the robots are coming for your jobs. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Whelp, someone actually gets it. "'People who come as refugees have great skills,' says Marc Schulman, the president of Eli's Cheesecake, which has sold cheesecakes and other baked desserts since 1980. One-third of adult refugees arriving in the U.S. have college degrees, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, a think tank that tracks the movement of people worldwide. And refugee employment is a successful model for finding skilled workers for a food business that has become high tech, says Schulman." If only Greece had been able to figure this out (but there are many cultural issues they would have had to surmount - issues which some Americans have adopted) they may have turned their economy into a workhorse of the EU.
"So in any normal sense, the Fox story was a lie. SNAP fraud isn't at an all-time high. It's been declining for years. But here's the thing: The fraud rate in 2011 may have been low, but this was in the aftermath of the Great Recession, when total SNAP payments were very high. So although the percentage is low, the dollar value of fraud clocked in at $988 million. Fox could have used this far higher number, which is, in fact, an all-time high. It's only an all-time high because SNAP was helping far more people, but still. In the Fox newsroom, that would hardly matter." This is my shocked face. This isn't the first time Fox News took a run at SNAP (you might remember the infamous "they can buy lobster" story, which they paid the guy to do the stunt because the lobster was his entire monthly SNAP benefit). Truly conservatives don't like helping people. Considering many of their leaders grew up using some of these programs, you'd think they'd have a better recollection of them. But then many don't recognize they did use programs and, at least for their leadership, they have no compassion or empathy. I say that not from a condemnation, but from an examination of their actions (note the number of stories in the past decade of when a GOP member is suddenly confronted with "hardship" in their family they have a conversion moment where they reverse their position). (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Shortly after the story was published, he wrote in the Washington Post Magazine this week, another Post reporter got a death threat for Fahrenthold, prompting the newspaper to hire a former counterterrorism official to consult with him on security." Because apparently that's how we do things in the 21st Century America. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
Sometimes, in a game of chess, you don't make plays to checkmate, you disable the opponent's ability to checkmate you. "House Republicans are moving to adopt a proposal weakening the chamber's outside ethics watchdog, removing its independence and establishing new limitations on its powers." Drain the swamp my ass. They just built the dikes to keep the water in. Also, when you're robbing a bank one of the first things you should do is blind the cameras.(Grokked from Vince O'Conner)
"Let us resolve, in the coming year, to be the people we believe ourselves to be." Jim Wright on the coming presidency. Yes, this is hard. All too easy is the road of easy snark (which is one step above petty), but yes. That's why after the election you'll note I haven't used "the Trumpster". I find it galling to say President Trump, and so might adopt a conservative talking stance of just referring to him by name. And while I believe that Trump is a walking disaster that spreads grift and corruption in his wake, I will try my best to focus on the facts and remain if not respectful to his person, deferential to the office which he will hold. YMMV.
Tweet of my heart: @MoElleithee 17 US intelligence agencies have determined that Putin waged a cyber attack on the US. The next President just tweeted an attaboy at him. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Double dip: @Gwenda One last thing: Paying attention is a political act. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
The underpants and spirit never had a chance.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Linkee-poo four calling-birds
Scene Magazine's contest to redesign the Cleveland Indians. IIRC, the main problem isn't with the name "Indians" but with Chief Wahoo's depiction. But there are some good ideas in there. Wish I would have seen the call for submission. Wish there was also an option for Cleveland Rocks with a rock and roll theme instead of the literal "rocks". Also wish there was a decent Tribe option (one of which is a direct rip-off of Mutual of Omaha). (Grokked from Marie Vibbert)
And now, a message from Reince Priebus and the RNC. "Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind. Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King." And they totally meant Jesus, not Trump as king. Sure. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"But he knows he doesn’t like how much attention Barack Obama is getting and is also bothered by what Trump and his closest advisers see as an active effort to poke the president-elect and undermine the incoming administration with last-minute policy changes on his way out of office, according to two people close to the transition." (Grokked form Chuck Wendig)
Look, real election fraud… "Failed Michigan State House candidate Brandon Michael Hall—who was a prominent volunteer with the Donald Trump campaign—was sentenced to 30 days in country jail Tuesday for forging signatures on petition forms in 2012, the Detroit News reports." Wait, it's another conservative, never mind. Nothing to see here folks. (Grokked from Michele)
Peter Dreier on preparing for a Trump presidency with advice, information, and a plan for progressives going forward. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
And now, a message from Reince Priebus and the RNC. "Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind. Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King." And they totally meant Jesus, not Trump as king. Sure. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"But he knows he doesn’t like how much attention Barack Obama is getting and is also bothered by what Trump and his closest advisers see as an active effort to poke the president-elect and undermine the incoming administration with last-minute policy changes on his way out of office, according to two people close to the transition." (Grokked form Chuck Wendig)
Look, real election fraud… "Failed Michigan State House candidate Brandon Michael Hall—who was a prominent volunteer with the Donald Trump campaign—was sentenced to 30 days in country jail Tuesday for forging signatures on petition forms in 2012, the Detroit News reports." Wait, it's another conservative, never mind. Nothing to see here folks. (Grokked from Michele)
Peter Dreier on preparing for a Trump presidency with advice, information, and a plan for progressives going forward. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Friday, December 23, 2016
Linkee-poo holidays
"Of course teacher quality contributes to student outcomes, but it is one of many factors, and even if you believe that teachers are the most important factor, taking $2250 away from the teachers in the poorest districts and giving it to the teachers in the richest districts is no way to motivate the best and brightest teachers to devote their energies to the kids who need it the most." Well it is incentive… for those teachers in the poorer districts to get jobs in the rich districts as soon as possible.
"'The No. 1 question that I love asking [students] is, Where do you get your news?' says Elis Estrada, the group's Washington, D.C., program manager… 'And the majority of them say, What is news? They don't even know what it is. The fact that we have to start there is really telling.'" Tell me again how "kids" are "tech savvy." Cause that just never stops being funny.
"Black mother calls cops on white man who choked her son – but she gets arrested instead." Yep, I'm sure it's just about following the law. Good thing we have a President-elect who thinks police should have more power. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Tweet of my heart: @Stonekettle All day people have been telling me "just ignore Trump!" Ignoring fascism is how you get fascism in the first place.
"'The No. 1 question that I love asking [students] is, Where do you get your news?' says Elis Estrada, the group's Washington, D.C., program manager… 'And the majority of them say, What is news? They don't even know what it is. The fact that we have to start there is really telling.'" Tell me again how "kids" are "tech savvy." Cause that just never stops being funny.
"Black mother calls cops on white man who choked her son – but she gets arrested instead." Yep, I'm sure it's just about following the law. Good thing we have a President-elect who thinks police should have more power. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Tweet of my heart: @Stonekettle All day people have been telling me "just ignore Trump!" Ignoring fascism is how you get fascism in the first place.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Linkee-poo, bring me flesh and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither, thou and I will see him dine when we bear him thither
Just a reminder that with the holidays, posting may become infrequent (now watch me post 3 time a day).
It's the annual viewing of Nicholas Was.
The history of Wassailing and Mumming. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
"Gartland says the conversations that Cayla records are sent to servers at a company called Genesis, which makes the doll, and to another company called Nuance, which makes voice-recognition software for this any many other products. Nuance also has a database used by law enforcement and military and intelligence agencies that matches voiceprints." I'm sure it's fine. We're all fine here. Remember when the NSA, CIA, and FBI forbade furbys from the offices?
What if instead of Big Brother installing the surveillance society, we did it ourselves for "commercial purposes." In this case, to monitor how students are engaging with the course material in college. Note, most colleges now hire a majority of "adjunct" faculty, who are paid pretty piss-poorly. So now you're going to make them monitor the students more closely in their own time (and most likely with the adjunct's own computer system)? Not to mention that more than likely by these metrics I would have been considered disengaged with the material for my recent degree (I didn't spend much time connected to Blackboard, I didn't belong to a study group, and I didn't come in off-hours to practice).
"After the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, people in a majority of states were less likely to skip doctors' visits because of concerns about the cost of care, according to a new report that attempts to paint a snapshot of the effects of the law as its days are numbered." Can't have that now, can we? I mean, if people think they can just get help whenever they need it, what kind of system is that? (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"The federal government will pay more than $100,000 to give someone a kidney transplant, but after three years, the government will often stop paying for the drugs needed to keep that transplanted kidney alive." Which then leads to them losing the kidney, and be put back on dialysis and on the transplant list. All of which costs several times more than the drugs to keep the kidney in the first place. "And instead of spending $15,000 a year on these anti-rejection drugs, people go back onto dialysis, which costs $90,000 a year or more. And that's taxpayer's money, provided with no time limit." Once more for the people in the back, universal healthcare coverage would costs us less, helps citizens live better lives, and improves the economy.
"John Kasich blocks Ohio cities from raising their own minimum wages." You know, given that conservatives are all about experimentation in governance and not having a top-down ruling philosophy, they sure are dead-set to stop local experimentation and like to strip local governments of home rule. If the higher minimum wage is a "bad thing", allow the cities to experiment and you can show just what happens? The answer is, as demonstrated by Seattle and LA, higher minimum wage is actually a good thing for local economies. Conservatives are just trying to forestall any dissent from the well known liberal bias of reality. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"After more than a year of delays, Texas health officials are moving to block the women's health provider Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds beginning next month." Can the rest of us vote to force Texas to succeed? What I'm really wondering is when conservatives will get tired of paying for these lawsuits that they lose on a regular basis. Of course, one of the reasons Trump was elected was because of his anti-abortion stance, so I'm sure Texas is counting on that.
"A Jewish family has fled Lancaster County after the cancellation of a 5th grade production of 'A Christmas Carol' was partially blamed on them by conservative news outlets… When news stories, which portray the school’s move as part of a 'war on Christmas,' broke on Fox and Breitbart News Network the school received more than 200 complaints." Too much to say about this that it won't all fit, so let me sum up… "FUCKSTOCKINGS!" (Grokked indirectly from Annalee Flower Horne)
"The leader of the Austrian far-right Freedom Party has signed what he called a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling party and recently met with Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the designated national security adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump of the United States." Someone just got sold out… and the rest of us may be on the list. Considering the Austrian Freedom Party was founded by actual Nazis, this isn't good. History may not repeat, but man it's rhyming pretty hard right now. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
"A military airplane and two huge helicopters doing loops over Midtown last week were conducting an “emergency relocation” planning mission in case they needed to extract President-elect Donald Trump during an emergency or attack, DNAinfo New York has learned." Well, good thing we were freaking out NYers for no good reason. And yes, in my twitter TL I saw several mentions from people wondering just WTF was going on as the C-130 was flying over the city. The sad thing is that we're still so frightened that this is a problem. This isn't a thing against people, this is that our government has not made a conscious effort to make us feel that we're safe (because for the first 7 years keeping people in a state of fear was profitable). (Grokked from Dan)
"The chat is hardly the first step Trump has taken to re-establish ties to many of the billionaires he blamed for selling out working-class voters during the presidential campaign." Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, won't get fooled again (until 2020).
"President-elect Donald Trump struck a high-profile deal with air conditioning and heating giant Carrier that will end up saving under 800 Indiana jobs that would have been moved to Mexico, and he touted the deal as following through on a campaign promise to keep manufacturing jobs from moving overseas.… In the very same state as Carrier, ball bearings and valve manufacturer Rexnord has officially notified the Indiana government that it will lay off 350 employees and permanently close a factory in Indianapolis starting in February. The factory jobs will be relocated to Mexico; just 25 office jobs will remain. The company says about half of its total workforce is in the United States… Even the deal with Carrier proved the limits of what Trump can accomplish in keeping individual factory jobs in the United States with tailored deals. Carrier will still send 1,300 to Mexico while reaping the state incentives it was promised as part of the negotiations with Trump’s team." (Grokked from Michele)
Tweet of my heart: @JohnFugelsang The First Amendment is already the First Amendment Defense Act. (Grokked from Michele)
Double dip: @invisibleinkie Gettin' real tired of being told to empathize with people who think empathy is a laughable defect of character for them to exploit. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)
It's the annual viewing of Nicholas Was.
The history of Wassailing and Mumming. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
"Gartland says the conversations that Cayla records are sent to servers at a company called Genesis, which makes the doll, and to another company called Nuance, which makes voice-recognition software for this any many other products. Nuance also has a database used by law enforcement and military and intelligence agencies that matches voiceprints." I'm sure it's fine. We're all fine here. Remember when the NSA, CIA, and FBI forbade furbys from the offices?
What if instead of Big Brother installing the surveillance society, we did it ourselves for "commercial purposes." In this case, to monitor how students are engaging with the course material in college. Note, most colleges now hire a majority of "adjunct" faculty, who are paid pretty piss-poorly. So now you're going to make them monitor the students more closely in their own time (and most likely with the adjunct's own computer system)? Not to mention that more than likely by these metrics I would have been considered disengaged with the material for my recent degree (I didn't spend much time connected to Blackboard, I didn't belong to a study group, and I didn't come in off-hours to practice).
"After the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, people in a majority of states were less likely to skip doctors' visits because of concerns about the cost of care, according to a new report that attempts to paint a snapshot of the effects of the law as its days are numbered." Can't have that now, can we? I mean, if people think they can just get help whenever they need it, what kind of system is that? (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"The federal government will pay more than $100,000 to give someone a kidney transplant, but after three years, the government will often stop paying for the drugs needed to keep that transplanted kidney alive." Which then leads to them losing the kidney, and be put back on dialysis and on the transplant list. All of which costs several times more than the drugs to keep the kidney in the first place. "And instead of spending $15,000 a year on these anti-rejection drugs, people go back onto dialysis, which costs $90,000 a year or more. And that's taxpayer's money, provided with no time limit." Once more for the people in the back, universal healthcare coverage would costs us less, helps citizens live better lives, and improves the economy.
"John Kasich blocks Ohio cities from raising their own minimum wages." You know, given that conservatives are all about experimentation in governance and not having a top-down ruling philosophy, they sure are dead-set to stop local experimentation and like to strip local governments of home rule. If the higher minimum wage is a "bad thing", allow the cities to experiment and you can show just what happens? The answer is, as demonstrated by Seattle and LA, higher minimum wage is actually a good thing for local economies. Conservatives are just trying to forestall any dissent from the well known liberal bias of reality. (Grokked from Justine Larbalestier)
"After more than a year of delays, Texas health officials are moving to block the women's health provider Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds beginning next month." Can the rest of us vote to force Texas to succeed? What I'm really wondering is when conservatives will get tired of paying for these lawsuits that they lose on a regular basis. Of course, one of the reasons Trump was elected was because of his anti-abortion stance, so I'm sure Texas is counting on that.
"A Jewish family has fled Lancaster County after the cancellation of a 5th grade production of 'A Christmas Carol' was partially blamed on them by conservative news outlets… When news stories, which portray the school’s move as part of a 'war on Christmas,' broke on Fox and Breitbart News Network the school received more than 200 complaints." Too much to say about this that it won't all fit, so let me sum up… "FUCKSTOCKINGS!" (Grokked indirectly from Annalee Flower Horne)
"The leader of the Austrian far-right Freedom Party has signed what he called a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling party and recently met with Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the designated national security adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump of the United States." Someone just got sold out… and the rest of us may be on the list. Considering the Austrian Freedom Party was founded by actual Nazis, this isn't good. History may not repeat, but man it's rhyming pretty hard right now. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
"A military airplane and two huge helicopters doing loops over Midtown last week were conducting an “emergency relocation” planning mission in case they needed to extract President-elect Donald Trump during an emergency or attack, DNAinfo New York has learned." Well, good thing we were freaking out NYers for no good reason. And yes, in my twitter TL I saw several mentions from people wondering just WTF was going on as the C-130 was flying over the city. The sad thing is that we're still so frightened that this is a problem. This isn't a thing against people, this is that our government has not made a conscious effort to make us feel that we're safe (because for the first 7 years keeping people in a state of fear was profitable). (Grokked from Dan)
"The chat is hardly the first step Trump has taken to re-establish ties to many of the billionaires he blamed for selling out working-class voters during the presidential campaign." Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, won't get fooled again (until 2020).
"President-elect Donald Trump struck a high-profile deal with air conditioning and heating giant Carrier that will end up saving under 800 Indiana jobs that would have been moved to Mexico, and he touted the deal as following through on a campaign promise to keep manufacturing jobs from moving overseas.… In the very same state as Carrier, ball bearings and valve manufacturer Rexnord has officially notified the Indiana government that it will lay off 350 employees and permanently close a factory in Indianapolis starting in February. The factory jobs will be relocated to Mexico; just 25 office jobs will remain. The company says about half of its total workforce is in the United States… Even the deal with Carrier proved the limits of what Trump can accomplish in keeping individual factory jobs in the United States with tailored deals. Carrier will still send 1,300 to Mexico while reaping the state incentives it was promised as part of the negotiations with Trump’s team." (Grokked from Michele)
Tweet of my heart: @JohnFugelsang The First Amendment is already the First Amendment Defense Act. (Grokked from Michele)
Double dip: @invisibleinkie Gettin' real tired of being told to empathize with people who think empathy is a laughable defect of character for them to exploit. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Solstice Greetings
Come winter night, come spring life
The wheel turns, the sun burns
Fires in the deep wake the world from its sleep
The wheel turns, the sun burns
Fires in the deep wake the world from its sleep
Linkee-poo, the first tree in the greenwood it was the Holly
How to walk on ice.
"Mama In Her Kerchief and I In My Madness." It's an old fashion, Cthulhu Christmas.
The Rock Hall Class of 2017 Inductees. In all the news stories on this YTF don't they mention Joan Baez or Nile Rodgers? WTF news media? Also it's time for my annual "Why the fuck do they have the induction ceremony in NYC?" drum beat (yeah, I know, cause NYC was a little baby about not getting the Hall).
BBC4's Stardust by Neil Gaiman. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
Don't blink.
"Pope Francis has named a graphics arts history expert to head the Vatican Museums, which include the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's frescoed ceiling."
A little nightmare fuel, a Gizmodo article on a Russian deep sea fisher who posts pictures of his weirder catch on twitter. Note that some of these fish are distorted by the decompression of being hauled to the surface. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
"Several people were wounded in a shooting at a mosque frequented largely by Somali immigrants in Switzerland's largest city, and the suspect remains at large, Zurich police said Monday." Wonder if we'll hear about this as much as we've heard about the truck that drove through the Christmas Market? Yeah, probably not.
"A woman in Louisville, KY caught an ugly confrontation on video Tuesday in which an angry white shopper went on a racist tirade against a pair of Hispanic women who were shopping together." As Soledad O'Brien, who shared this link on twitter, said, "I feel confident this lady voted on her 'economic concerns'." (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Again, repealing NC HB2 in a deal to remove the protections Charlotte put in place is not a deal. It leaves NC business, schools, etc all with the power to discriminate against LGBTQ peoples. This is not progress, it's a step back.
"Two of Flint's former emergency managers and two water plant officials were charged Tuesday for felonies of false pretenses and conspiracy -- the allegations are that they misled the Michigan Department of Treasury into getting millions in bonds, and then misused the money to finance the construction of a new pipeline and force Flint's drinking water source to be switched to the Flint River… (the) emergency managers put in charge of Flint during a years-long financial crisis, reported directly to the governor and are the highest level officials to be charged so far. They also face misdemeanors of misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty." Somebody's going to emergency. Somebody's going to jail. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"A federal court in New York is scheduled to release redacted copies Tuesday of the search warrant and other documents that gave the FBI new license to dig into a trove of Hillary Clinton emails days before the presidential election."
"'What I am interested in is just developing a whole new generation of talent,' Obama told NPR's Steve Inskeep in an interview on Morning Edition." Yes, this.
"The nation’s largest police union this week amended a document listing the group's apparent executive and legislative priorities to clarify that it was simply an outline of what members may expect from a Trump administration, and not an 'wish list' meant to outline the group's goals." Everybody got that? This list sent out to FOP members outlining expanded police powers and a roll-back of Obama era policies restricting police from pursuing racial agendas is totally not a demand or wish list for their support of the President-elect. Totally.
"Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are behind a newly-founded non-profit that is hosting a charity event over inauguration weekend offering top-tier donors access to the President-elect and themselves, the Center for Public Integrity reported Monday." What? This is my surprised face. Supposedly this fundraiser is now offline.
"'Nobody wants to go first,' said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who received nasty phone calls, letters and tweets after he penned an August op-ed in The New York Times, calling on Trump to release his tax returns. 'People are naturally reticent to be the first out of the block for fear of Sean Hannity, for fear of Breitbart, for fear of local folks.'" Well, we now have a list of the blackshirts. If we all weren't going to sink together I would be all "how do you like your politics now, assholes." This is the beast the conservatives created (support of fringe right-wing media, support of RINO hunts, support of thuggery in the name of politics). Did you not understand that eventually that dog always bites the hand that feeds it (a case of the ever shrinking circle of "who is in" because there always needs to be an enemy)? So let me give these conservatives some back bone, these bullies only have power because you give it to them. Of course you're also frightened that your fellow conservatives won't back you up. That's a legitimate fear. But is that how you want to live your lives? Are you the ones who chided the liberals for not having a backbone? Grow one yourselves. You can die (politically) in the public square, fighting for your beliefs, or you can die quietly in your chambers stifled by your politics an unable to mask your lying eyes. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"Mama In Her Kerchief and I In My Madness." It's an old fashion, Cthulhu Christmas.
The Rock Hall Class of 2017 Inductees. In all the news stories on this YTF don't they mention Joan Baez or Nile Rodgers? WTF news media? Also it's time for my annual "Why the fuck do they have the induction ceremony in NYC?" drum beat (yeah, I know, cause NYC was a little baby about not getting the Hall).
BBC4's Stardust by Neil Gaiman. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)
Don't blink.
"Pope Francis has named a graphics arts history expert to head the Vatican Museums, which include the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's frescoed ceiling."
A little nightmare fuel, a Gizmodo article on a Russian deep sea fisher who posts pictures of his weirder catch on twitter. Note that some of these fish are distorted by the decompression of being hauled to the surface. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
"Several people were wounded in a shooting at a mosque frequented largely by Somali immigrants in Switzerland's largest city, and the suspect remains at large, Zurich police said Monday." Wonder if we'll hear about this as much as we've heard about the truck that drove through the Christmas Market? Yeah, probably not.
"A woman in Louisville, KY caught an ugly confrontation on video Tuesday in which an angry white shopper went on a racist tirade against a pair of Hispanic women who were shopping together." As Soledad O'Brien, who shared this link on twitter, said, "I feel confident this lady voted on her 'economic concerns'." (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Again, repealing NC HB2 in a deal to remove the protections Charlotte put in place is not a deal. It leaves NC business, schools, etc all with the power to discriminate against LGBTQ peoples. This is not progress, it's a step back.
"Two of Flint's former emergency managers and two water plant officials were charged Tuesday for felonies of false pretenses and conspiracy -- the allegations are that they misled the Michigan Department of Treasury into getting millions in bonds, and then misused the money to finance the construction of a new pipeline and force Flint's drinking water source to be switched to the Flint River… (the) emergency managers put in charge of Flint during a years-long financial crisis, reported directly to the governor and are the highest level officials to be charged so far. They also face misdemeanors of misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty." Somebody's going to emergency. Somebody's going to jail. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"A federal court in New York is scheduled to release redacted copies Tuesday of the search warrant and other documents that gave the FBI new license to dig into a trove of Hillary Clinton emails days before the presidential election."
"'What I am interested in is just developing a whole new generation of talent,' Obama told NPR's Steve Inskeep in an interview on Morning Edition." Yes, this.
"The nation’s largest police union this week amended a document listing the group's apparent executive and legislative priorities to clarify that it was simply an outline of what members may expect from a Trump administration, and not an 'wish list' meant to outline the group's goals." Everybody got that? This list sent out to FOP members outlining expanded police powers and a roll-back of Obama era policies restricting police from pursuing racial agendas is totally not a demand or wish list for their support of the President-elect. Totally.
"Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are behind a newly-founded non-profit that is hosting a charity event over inauguration weekend offering top-tier donors access to the President-elect and themselves, the Center for Public Integrity reported Monday." What? This is my surprised face. Supposedly this fundraiser is now offline.
"'Nobody wants to go first,' said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who received nasty phone calls, letters and tweets after he penned an August op-ed in The New York Times, calling on Trump to release his tax returns. 'People are naturally reticent to be the first out of the block for fear of Sean Hannity, for fear of Breitbart, for fear of local folks.'" Well, we now have a list of the blackshirts. If we all weren't going to sink together I would be all "how do you like your politics now, assholes." This is the beast the conservatives created (support of fringe right-wing media, support of RINO hunts, support of thuggery in the name of politics). Did you not understand that eventually that dog always bites the hand that feeds it (a case of the ever shrinking circle of "who is in" because there always needs to be an enemy)? So let me give these conservatives some back bone, these bullies only have power because you give it to them. Of course you're also frightened that your fellow conservatives won't back you up. That's a legitimate fear. But is that how you want to live your lives? Are you the ones who chided the liberals for not having a backbone? Grow one yourselves. You can die (politically) in the public square, fighting for your beliefs, or you can die quietly in your chambers stifled by your politics an unable to mask your lying eyes. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Linkee-poo, all I want for Christmas is you
"But a new industry-funded study published in a prominent medical journal questions the evidence used to generate the specific recommendations to limit sugar in our diets." (Emphasis mine) Yeah, I sure we can trust it. Just like we trusted the industry-funded studies that said smoking wasn't bad for us, and that there wasn't any effect from secondary smoke exposure, and how particulates from industrial problems quickly disperse and don't cause any health issues, and…
Yes, I'm sure the Pentagon is shelving its study using pressure gauges on soldiers to try and reliably determine when soldiers have concussions because what can cause a concussion for one person doesn't cause it for another. I'm sure it's totally not because of the discovery of constant over-pressure events happening simply because soldiers were doing their jobs (in the vicinity of high-powered weapons). Anyone who has stood near a tank as it fires could have told you this. Personal note, when a nephew gave some really bad answers as to why he was thinking of joining the Army (thank you laws allowing military recruiters access to high school students) I seriously looked for someplace that had live-fire tank exercises that the public could attend to take him. Fortunately 1) I couldn't find any and 2) he quickly lost interest.
"North Carolina's Legislature is poised to repeal the controversial 'bathroom bill,' after the Charlotte City Council unanimously voted to repeal its local anti-discrimination measure." Okay 1) I agree that the "bathroom bill" should be repealed in full (because it does a lot of other heinous things besides the "bathroom" part) but 2) that means that in NC you can still discriminate because Charlotte repealed their anti-discrimination law. So nothing has changed. Except that the right is trying to blame this all on the left, to which I call bullshit. "Then, on Monday morning, (the Charlotte City Council) had a surprise session — not announced to the media — and changed course." Um, that might not be legal, then (depending on "sunshine" and/or meeting notification laws). But, again, to be clear, with Charlotte backing down, repealing HB2 does absolutely nothing. Status quo. Plus it's an attempt for people to say, "well, maybe they aren't all bad" after they spent last week striping the incoming governor of a lot of power and autonomy. Not buying it.
"'Didn’t feel like I was bothering anybody,' Kyle said. 'I am a hunter, I do like to hunt and I just wanted to sit on my front porch with my gun, I didn’t think that was a big deal.'… Kyle said he’s just exercising his second amendment rights and is always responsible with guns. But parents said it still makes them uneasy with it being so close to a school." Right across the street from a school in Kansas. Yeah, I mean, who doesn't just want to hand out on their porch, holding their gun. Across from a school. Where you had an argument with a woman blocking your driveway. I'm sure it's all innocent. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"This mostly white city wants to leave its mostly black school district." I'm sure it's just about doing the best for all the kids, you know like not helping the entire school system.
"Sentance revealed earlier this month that high schools there have 'misstated student records… resulting in diplomas that were not honestly earned.' At a recent meeting of the state school board, he also admitted that Alabama's education department had not provided enough oversight." Getting them "out the door." I thought when I heard a local school official say, "What if high school is the best these kids will ever achieve," that I had heard the worst description of education possible. I was wrong.
From May of last year, somewhat still relevant. "It’s been extremely common for news accounts to portray Donald Trump’s candidacy as a 'working-class' rebellion against Republican elites. There are elements of truth in this perspective: Republican voters, especially Trump supporters, are unhappy about the direction of the economy… But the definition of 'working class' and similar terms is fuzzy, and narratives like these risk obscuring an important and perhaps counterintuitive fact about Trump’s voters: As compared with most Americans, Trump’s voters are better off. The median household income of a Trump voter so far in the primaries is about $72,000, based on estimates derived from exit polls and Census Bureau data… it’s well above the national median household income of about $56,000. It’s also higher than the median income for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters, which is around $61,000 for both." (Grokked from Ann Leckie)
"The mayor's chief of staff in Mobile, Alabama, is apologizing for his role in having a large tree cut down at a city park so it could be used as a prop during President-elect Donald Trump's recent 'thank you' rally." They didn't realize people would 1) notice and 2) be upset with them cutting down a tree to use as a prop. As a former local councilman, cutting down a tree in a park is a very big deal. Even when said tree obscures the marker it was placed next to when the marker was the reason for the park in the first place. So, no, this most likely isn't just a "they used it for Trump" thing. However, I hate to say, this appears to be a modus operandi for the next four years.
"Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that Donald Trump could pardon members of his administration who break the law… Referring to a law that could prevent Trump from hiring his daughter and son-in-law to serve in his administration, Gingrich said on The Diane Rehm Show Monday morning: 'In the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He also has, frankly, the power of the pardon.'" See, as Gingrich goes on to explain, Trump is really rich and "We’ve never seen this kind of wealth in the White House, and so traditional rules don’t work." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"A prominent businessman with close ties to Donald Trump has been arrested in Turkey so the country can use him as leverage in their dealings with the US President-elect, it has been claimed… During a phone call with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the day after his election win, Mr Trump mentioned Mr Muratoglu by name only for him to be arrested shortly afterwards… It goes on to claim that they plan to use his detention as leverage in a deal that would see the US extradite the Imam, Fethullah Gulen, who Mr Erdogan has blamed for masterminding an attempted coup in the country earlier this year…" I'm sure it's fine. We're all fine here. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"A Republican congressman outlined the way he would like to see the health care system operate if Obamacare is repealed, as GOP lawmakers are promising. It is a brave new world in which parents would wait and think about it before bringing in their sick or injured kids for costly treatments." What an asshole. Dear Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), for most of us, insurance doesn't work that way. To go to the ER I have a $200 co-pay. Most people with HSAs will pay the full cost (until they meet their $6,000 - $10,000 deductible). For most people's insurance, they are paying much more for the costly bits. Also, some people can't miss work to take their kid to their GP, so getting medical treatment after 5pm is their only option. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"Much has been written about Trump’s demagoguery and its similarity to totalitarian leaders of the past, but what about Trump’s opponents? Are many of us borrowing a page from totalitarianism without realizing it? Are we empowering him? Are we coordinating?" In a lot of ways, yes. This is why there is the common phrase in my twitter TL, "this is not normal". It's also why here and in person I've been pushing back against the common narrative of Trump's victory. Stories matter. Trump is not "of the little people," he's an oligarch conman who duped a lot of people into voting for him because he channeled their anger and told them the scapegoats they had picked (the ones the conservatives have been using for decades) were the right ones. That the deck was stacked against them (even though they are the privileged few, but that doesn't mean life is easy). And it was all those other people's fault, not the uber-rich (like Trump). "The symbolism and the propaganda form a kind of feedback loop, each reinforcing the other, regardless of the underlying truths ― or lack thereof." This is a basic premise of marketing and advertising. (Grokked from Ken McConnell)
"I’ve heard non-Trump voters wonder, 'Are Trump’s female supporters aware of wage inequity? Are they aware of workplace discrimination?' And yes, the women Trump supporters I got to know in southwest Louisiana are well aware of gender inequality. They all work, too. But inequality was not the main thing on their minds." An interview with Arlie Russel Hochschild who wrote, "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right." I have to say, I'm tired of this "we have to reach out to Trump Conservatives…" line. Really? You all feel "ignored" by the Democratic Party, get in line. This is akin to the idiotic "War on Christmas", which really is "the world is no longer constantly enforcing and validating my point of view." In the past, American culture was heavy handed in it's promotion of white, Christianity (I don't say "values" because, well, that's a doctoral dissertation on how far from actual Christianity the "Christian right" has gone). Everywhere you went, being white and being Christian was the default. And now it isn't, and people no longer feel validated. Too fucking bad for you. Janice Areno, you're tired of hearing about LGBTQ issues? Well, Missy, the movie isn't always about you. And by supporting LGBTQ issues we're supporting your freedom. There is one party that is telling you that isn't the case. They're the party that also have been screwing your own life over. Mike Schaff you wonder why having uncontaminated fish and air to breathe is a "left-wing cause"? It isn't. But the riga-wing has rejected those values and then points at the left and says, "see, they're causing problems." So then you go and vote for those right-wing assholes who are the very ones who promoted unregulated business activity which lead to you loosing your neighborhood to a sink-hole. The left, by supporting minority rights are enforcing your rights. We just want to make sure everyone has them. Because when they don't, nobody has those rights (as the conservatives are proving to you every single election). You want empathy? Fuck you. Grow up and join us, we're fighting to save you and the world. We're out here fighting for you and you're upset we're just not saying your name? No. Sorry. You want to support conservative values? Fine. Pull yourselves up by your boot-straps. You say you don't have boot-straps? Who took them away? It was probably the party that says that the government shouldn't give people anything, ever. I do have empathy. I do want you all to success. I do care about you. You just aren't all I care about, and because of that you've decided to give power to the people we've been fighting to get them to stop pissing all over your neighborhood and telling you "it's just raining." Asking for "empathy" is a delaying and diffusing tactic designed to go to progressive values (we do value empathy). It's a distraction to keep progressives busy while conservatives dismantle our republic. (Grokked from Lara Kristin Herndon)
You want to know where I learned that reaction? I learned that when I was a conservative.
"A source tells ThinkProgress that the Kuwaiti embassy, which has regularly held the event at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, abruptly canceled its reservation after members of the Trump Organization pressured the ambassador to hold the event at the hotel owned by the president-elect. The source, who has direct knowledge of the arrangements between the hotels and the embassy, spoke to ThinkProgress on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak publicly. ThinkProgress was also able to review documentary evidence confirming the source’s account." Emoluments clause. There are some pretty strict rules against bribery and accepting of gifts if you are a government contractor. This kind of thing, totally verboten. If Trump was a minor government official, this is a jail-time offense. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Hey, remember when the incoming Trump administration asked the Energy Department to provide a list of all employees who worked on climate change and the social cost of carbon? Remember how they said that they just wanted to figure out who was working on what, standard incoming administration thing to do. Yeah, well, "Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has asked State Department officials to disclose how much money it provides each year to international environmental groups. It’s the latest example of how the incoming administration is reassessing the U.S. government’s approach to tackling climate change and other environmental priorities." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"President-elect Donald Trump is adding another billionaire to the top ranks of his administration." Another. Billionaire. That's the lead.
Yes, I'm sure the Pentagon is shelving its study using pressure gauges on soldiers to try and reliably determine when soldiers have concussions because what can cause a concussion for one person doesn't cause it for another. I'm sure it's totally not because of the discovery of constant over-pressure events happening simply because soldiers were doing their jobs (in the vicinity of high-powered weapons). Anyone who has stood near a tank as it fires could have told you this. Personal note, when a nephew gave some really bad answers as to why he was thinking of joining the Army (thank you laws allowing military recruiters access to high school students) I seriously looked for someplace that had live-fire tank exercises that the public could attend to take him. Fortunately 1) I couldn't find any and 2) he quickly lost interest.
"North Carolina's Legislature is poised to repeal the controversial 'bathroom bill,' after the Charlotte City Council unanimously voted to repeal its local anti-discrimination measure." Okay 1) I agree that the "bathroom bill" should be repealed in full (because it does a lot of other heinous things besides the "bathroom" part) but 2) that means that in NC you can still discriminate because Charlotte repealed their anti-discrimination law. So nothing has changed. Except that the right is trying to blame this all on the left, to which I call bullshit. "Then, on Monday morning, (the Charlotte City Council) had a surprise session — not announced to the media — and changed course." Um, that might not be legal, then (depending on "sunshine" and/or meeting notification laws). But, again, to be clear, with Charlotte backing down, repealing HB2 does absolutely nothing. Status quo. Plus it's an attempt for people to say, "well, maybe they aren't all bad" after they spent last week striping the incoming governor of a lot of power and autonomy. Not buying it.
"'Didn’t feel like I was bothering anybody,' Kyle said. 'I am a hunter, I do like to hunt and I just wanted to sit on my front porch with my gun, I didn’t think that was a big deal.'… Kyle said he’s just exercising his second amendment rights and is always responsible with guns. But parents said it still makes them uneasy with it being so close to a school." Right across the street from a school in Kansas. Yeah, I mean, who doesn't just want to hand out on their porch, holding their gun. Across from a school. Where you had an argument with a woman blocking your driveway. I'm sure it's all innocent. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"This mostly white city wants to leave its mostly black school district." I'm sure it's just about doing the best for all the kids, you know like not helping the entire school system.
"Sentance revealed earlier this month that high schools there have 'misstated student records… resulting in diplomas that were not honestly earned.' At a recent meeting of the state school board, he also admitted that Alabama's education department had not provided enough oversight." Getting them "out the door." I thought when I heard a local school official say, "What if high school is the best these kids will ever achieve," that I had heard the worst description of education possible. I was wrong.
From May of last year, somewhat still relevant. "It’s been extremely common for news accounts to portray Donald Trump’s candidacy as a 'working-class' rebellion against Republican elites. There are elements of truth in this perspective: Republican voters, especially Trump supporters, are unhappy about the direction of the economy… But the definition of 'working class' and similar terms is fuzzy, and narratives like these risk obscuring an important and perhaps counterintuitive fact about Trump’s voters: As compared with most Americans, Trump’s voters are better off. The median household income of a Trump voter so far in the primaries is about $72,000, based on estimates derived from exit polls and Census Bureau data… it’s well above the national median household income of about $56,000. It’s also higher than the median income for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters, which is around $61,000 for both." (Grokked from Ann Leckie)
"The mayor's chief of staff in Mobile, Alabama, is apologizing for his role in having a large tree cut down at a city park so it could be used as a prop during President-elect Donald Trump's recent 'thank you' rally." They didn't realize people would 1) notice and 2) be upset with them cutting down a tree to use as a prop. As a former local councilman, cutting down a tree in a park is a very big deal. Even when said tree obscures the marker it was placed next to when the marker was the reason for the park in the first place. So, no, this most likely isn't just a "they used it for Trump" thing. However, I hate to say, this appears to be a modus operandi for the next four years.
"Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that Donald Trump could pardon members of his administration who break the law… Referring to a law that could prevent Trump from hiring his daughter and son-in-law to serve in his administration, Gingrich said on The Diane Rehm Show Monday morning: 'In the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He also has, frankly, the power of the pardon.'" See, as Gingrich goes on to explain, Trump is really rich and "We’ve never seen this kind of wealth in the White House, and so traditional rules don’t work." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"A prominent businessman with close ties to Donald Trump has been arrested in Turkey so the country can use him as leverage in their dealings with the US President-elect, it has been claimed… During a phone call with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the day after his election win, Mr Trump mentioned Mr Muratoglu by name only for him to be arrested shortly afterwards… It goes on to claim that they plan to use his detention as leverage in a deal that would see the US extradite the Imam, Fethullah Gulen, who Mr Erdogan has blamed for masterminding an attempted coup in the country earlier this year…" I'm sure it's fine. We're all fine here. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"A Republican congressman outlined the way he would like to see the health care system operate if Obamacare is repealed, as GOP lawmakers are promising. It is a brave new world in which parents would wait and think about it before bringing in their sick or injured kids for costly treatments." What an asshole. Dear Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), for most of us, insurance doesn't work that way. To go to the ER I have a $200 co-pay. Most people with HSAs will pay the full cost (until they meet their $6,000 - $10,000 deductible). For most people's insurance, they are paying much more for the costly bits. Also, some people can't miss work to take their kid to their GP, so getting medical treatment after 5pm is their only option. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"Much has been written about Trump’s demagoguery and its similarity to totalitarian leaders of the past, but what about Trump’s opponents? Are many of us borrowing a page from totalitarianism without realizing it? Are we empowering him? Are we coordinating?" In a lot of ways, yes. This is why there is the common phrase in my twitter TL, "this is not normal". It's also why here and in person I've been pushing back against the common narrative of Trump's victory. Stories matter. Trump is not "of the little people," he's an oligarch conman who duped a lot of people into voting for him because he channeled their anger and told them the scapegoats they had picked (the ones the conservatives have been using for decades) were the right ones. That the deck was stacked against them (even though they are the privileged few, but that doesn't mean life is easy). And it was all those other people's fault, not the uber-rich (like Trump). "The symbolism and the propaganda form a kind of feedback loop, each reinforcing the other, regardless of the underlying truths ― or lack thereof." This is a basic premise of marketing and advertising. (Grokked from Ken McConnell)
"I’ve heard non-Trump voters wonder, 'Are Trump’s female supporters aware of wage inequity? Are they aware of workplace discrimination?' And yes, the women Trump supporters I got to know in southwest Louisiana are well aware of gender inequality. They all work, too. But inequality was not the main thing on their minds." An interview with Arlie Russel Hochschild who wrote, "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right." I have to say, I'm tired of this "we have to reach out to Trump Conservatives…" line. Really? You all feel "ignored" by the Democratic Party, get in line. This is akin to the idiotic "War on Christmas", which really is "the world is no longer constantly enforcing and validating my point of view." In the past, American culture was heavy handed in it's promotion of white, Christianity (I don't say "values" because, well, that's a doctoral dissertation on how far from actual Christianity the "Christian right" has gone). Everywhere you went, being white and being Christian was the default. And now it isn't, and people no longer feel validated. Too fucking bad for you. Janice Areno, you're tired of hearing about LGBTQ issues? Well, Missy, the movie isn't always about you. And by supporting LGBTQ issues we're supporting your freedom. There is one party that is telling you that isn't the case. They're the party that also have been screwing your own life over. Mike Schaff you wonder why having uncontaminated fish and air to breathe is a "left-wing cause"? It isn't. But the riga-wing has rejected those values and then points at the left and says, "see, they're causing problems." So then you go and vote for those right-wing assholes who are the very ones who promoted unregulated business activity which lead to you loosing your neighborhood to a sink-hole. The left, by supporting minority rights are enforcing your rights. We just want to make sure everyone has them. Because when they don't, nobody has those rights (as the conservatives are proving to you every single election). You want empathy? Fuck you. Grow up and join us, we're fighting to save you and the world. We're out here fighting for you and you're upset we're just not saying your name? No. Sorry. You want to support conservative values? Fine. Pull yourselves up by your boot-straps. You say you don't have boot-straps? Who took them away? It was probably the party that says that the government shouldn't give people anything, ever. I do have empathy. I do want you all to success. I do care about you. You just aren't all I care about, and because of that you've decided to give power to the people we've been fighting to get them to stop pissing all over your neighborhood and telling you "it's just raining." Asking for "empathy" is a delaying and diffusing tactic designed to go to progressive values (we do value empathy). It's a distraction to keep progressives busy while conservatives dismantle our republic. (Grokked from Lara Kristin Herndon)
You want to know where I learned that reaction? I learned that when I was a conservative.
"A source tells ThinkProgress that the Kuwaiti embassy, which has regularly held the event at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, abruptly canceled its reservation after members of the Trump Organization pressured the ambassador to hold the event at the hotel owned by the president-elect. The source, who has direct knowledge of the arrangements between the hotels and the embassy, spoke to ThinkProgress on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak publicly. ThinkProgress was also able to review documentary evidence confirming the source’s account." Emoluments clause. There are some pretty strict rules against bribery and accepting of gifts if you are a government contractor. This kind of thing, totally verboten. If Trump was a minor government official, this is a jail-time offense. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
Hey, remember when the incoming Trump administration asked the Energy Department to provide a list of all employees who worked on climate change and the social cost of carbon? Remember how they said that they just wanted to figure out who was working on what, standard incoming administration thing to do. Yeah, well, "Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has asked State Department officials to disclose how much money it provides each year to international environmental groups. It’s the latest example of how the incoming administration is reassessing the U.S. government’s approach to tackling climate change and other environmental priorities." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"President-elect Donald Trump is adding another billionaire to the top ranks of his administration." Another. Billionaire. That's the lead.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Linkee-poo, it was Christmas in the trenches where the frost so bitter hung
Another busy morning. Whelp, the electors cast their votes today.
Jim Hines tweet storm on abuse and control mechanisms. Yes this. Plus personal history, Jim Frenkel charmed me and it took more convincing than it should have for me to open my eyes, and I already knew the content on the chart that Jim Hines shares. While Jim Hines makes this about people attempting to control young authors, the information there is applicable to almost any abusive relationship.
"The unfettered shipments amount to 433 pain pills for every man, woman and child in West Virginia… The Gazette-Mail obtained previously confidential drug shipping sales records sent by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office. The records disclose the number of pills sold to every pharmacy in the state and the drug companies' shipments to all 55 counties in West Virginia between 2007 and 2012." The article continues, "For more than a decade, the same distributors disregarded rules to report suspicious orders for controlled substances in West Virginia to the state Board of Pharmacy, the Gazette-Mail found. And the board failed to enforce the same regulations that were on the books since 2001, while giving spotless inspection reviews to small-town pharmacies in the southern counties that ordered more pills than could possibly be taken by people who really needed medicine for pain."(Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"A white supremacist website called The Daily Stormer has posted a call to 'TAKE ACTION' against Jewish people in Whitefish (Montana), providing personal contact information and urging a 'troll storm' against them." Whitefish is the hometown of Richard Spencer (that's the asshat at the center of several white nationalist stories, the one who held the conference in Washington DC where the attendees threw the fascist salute), and apparently his mother is losing her real estate business (well, having a rough patch). The white supremacists are blaming backlash against his mother by the local Jewish population. Of course he specifically says "no violence" against them, but then posts personal contact information for them. They aren't waiting for January 20. Not that we expected them to. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"Andrey Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was giving a speech in Ankara, Turkey, when he was shot." Yeah, that's not going to end well. (Grokked from Dan)
Tweet of my heart: @GeeDee215 you call out your uncle at the holiday dinner table for saying racist stuff — not for your uncle's sake, but for nieces and nephews. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)
Jim Hines tweet storm on abuse and control mechanisms. Yes this. Plus personal history, Jim Frenkel charmed me and it took more convincing than it should have for me to open my eyes, and I already knew the content on the chart that Jim Hines shares. While Jim Hines makes this about people attempting to control young authors, the information there is applicable to almost any abusive relationship.
"The unfettered shipments amount to 433 pain pills for every man, woman and child in West Virginia… The Gazette-Mail obtained previously confidential drug shipping sales records sent by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office. The records disclose the number of pills sold to every pharmacy in the state and the drug companies' shipments to all 55 counties in West Virginia between 2007 and 2012." The article continues, "For more than a decade, the same distributors disregarded rules to report suspicious orders for controlled substances in West Virginia to the state Board of Pharmacy, the Gazette-Mail found. And the board failed to enforce the same regulations that were on the books since 2001, while giving spotless inspection reviews to small-town pharmacies in the southern counties that ordered more pills than could possibly be taken by people who really needed medicine for pain."(Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"A white supremacist website called The Daily Stormer has posted a call to 'TAKE ACTION' against Jewish people in Whitefish (Montana), providing personal contact information and urging a 'troll storm' against them." Whitefish is the hometown of Richard Spencer (that's the asshat at the center of several white nationalist stories, the one who held the conference in Washington DC where the attendees threw the fascist salute), and apparently his mother is losing her real estate business (well, having a rough patch). The white supremacists are blaming backlash against his mother by the local Jewish population. Of course he specifically says "no violence" against them, but then posts personal contact information for them. They aren't waiting for January 20. Not that we expected them to. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"Andrey Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was giving a speech in Ankara, Turkey, when he was shot." Yeah, that's not going to end well. (Grokked from Dan)
Tweet of my heart: @GeeDee215 you call out your uncle at the holiday dinner table for saying racist stuff — not for your uncle's sake, but for nieces and nephews. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Xmas shopping
Spent part of the day at Kraynaks. They have a pretty good display of Xmas Trees that we like to go see. Plus it's also good to get some decorating ideas and see some good ideas. There were a lot really nice trees this year, but this one stood out, and now I'm thinking of how to make one myself. The construction doesn't seem complex (okay, there's some difficult cuts, but I think I can work it out. The major issue would be the LED candles (as the one they used are about $30 a shot).
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