The Coming Age Of Payback

As we worry about the Rise Of The Machines and Climate Change and the currently occurring Extinction Event, let's not ignore the ability of Earth's Plant Life to engineer and facilitate our demise.

From BBC:

The more genes in your genome, the more highly evolved you are as a species.

We have a scorecard that shows humans lagging rather badly:

Homo Sapiens: 26,000 genes

Rice: 45,000 genes

A few things I really like thinking about because of this:

1. There are 650 species of carnivorous plants that we know of
2. A plant keeps its head below ground and displays its sexual organs to the outside world
3. If we associate intelligence with the ability to earn the right to survive, we may be in for some very rude surprises

Karma, Bitch

A bible museum. In Washington DC. With a view of the Capitol.

CNN:

The Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC says five of its most valuable artifacts -- once thought to be part of the historic Dead Sea Scrolls -- are fake and will not be displayed anymore.

German-based scholars tested the fragments and found that five "show characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin and therefore will no longer be displayed at the museum."
CNN raised questions about the museum's Dead Sea Scroll fragments in an article published last November, as the Green family prepared to unveil their new, $500 million museum. At 430,000 square feet, and with views of the Capitol, the Bible museum represents a significant investment for its evangelical founders.
And the kicker -

"Though we had hoped the testing would render different results, this is an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artifacts, the elaborate testing process undertaken and our commitment to transparency," said Jeffrey Kloha, the chief curatorial officer for Museum of the Bible.

Excuse me, Mr Kloha, but if you knuckleheads cared about "verifying the authenticity" of any-damned-thing at all, you wouldn't be religious in the first place.

When you 're willing to believe in a pixie that lives in the sky - who'll do magic tricks for you if you suck up to it just right - you can't be surprised when somebody pulls some scammy shit on your gullible ass.

Around The Web Today

So my dickhead neighbor, Brad, called the police because I was doing a little reefer out on my balcony.

The cops get here and ask me where's the weed? And I tell them I smoked it all.

Then they asked me who my supplier is - and now they're over at Brad's, jackin' all his shit.

DIY Tip

I'm a big fan of law-n-order. I like it best when we can count on people to behave themselves according to a set of clearly defined rules, which includes a proper course to follow when somebody crosses the line. Due process, dontcha know.

But sometimes, you just gotta fuck 'em back, right fucking now.

He grabs her ass, so she drops his ass. from r/funny

Nicely done, young woman.

Today's Tweet

Irony. Subtlety. Comeuppance. Hypocrisy. Nothing sinks in - these people are impervious to everything that governs the normal functioning of a decent civil society. This is The Banality of Evil.

Go back and tell them you're seeking asylum there. By law they have to let you in, and only a depraved monster devoid of morals would defend turning you away. https://t.co/I7a8j0q8pv

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) June 23, 2018

Today On The Toobz

Overheard on Twitter:

Yesterday, Larry Kudlow said "there's a special place in Hell" for Justin Trudeau. 

Today, Mr Kudlow suffered a heart attack.

And the karmic kicker is: now he has a pre-existing condition and could easily be denied coverage because of the GOP's plan to scuttle ACA.

Spit Ballin'

Looking for something that explains why "conservatives" are so dead set against policies aimed at equalizing treatment (ie: rights, opportunities, etc) for women and minorities under the law, we always eventually bump into an underlying thingie that translates to: 

"What if black people treat us like we've always treated them?"

-or-

"If we give gays the same rights as the rest of us, we're afraid they'll treat us just like we've always treated women".

So let's take that as a template, and overlay the shitty attitude held by so many "conservatives" towards immigrants.

OK so far?

Now consider this - the American population is at an average of 56 years old.

In 15 or 20 years, those "conservatives" are looking at an increasing probability of being taken care of by women and minorities and - wait for it - immigrants!!!

Karma's a bitch, motherfucker.

Tech Today

So, I needed to clean the ol' iMac today, and I can do that best by standing behind it. This makes for less wear and tear on my wrists and arms, but since I have to look around the side or over the top, it's hard to tell the difference between what's there legitimately and what needs to be gone.

Thinking it was a bit of snot or phlegm or mayonnaise or whatever, I just spent close to a full minute trying to scrub the cursor off my computer screen.

It occurs to me that I may be spending way too much time calling other people stoopid.

Dots

Pema Levy at Mother Jones:

By day, Joe Tien is a math professor at Ohio State University, where he studies the spread of infectious diseases. His research maps how a disease like Ebola jumps from village to village and plots the best way to stop its spread. On his own time, Tien has begun putting his skills in network science toward other subjects, including the connection between white nationalists and American politicians.

After the election, Tien and two other mathematicians set out to map the relationship between white nationalists and US senators on social media. The results produced one clear outlier: Based on an analysis of senators' Twitter followers, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), President Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, had the most overlap with white nationalist groups and individuals.

"He's the closest of all senators to the white nationalist groups," says Tien.

Sessions has a controversial track record on matters of race, including allegations of racist comments toward black colleagues and the targeted prosecution of civil rights activists. But Tien was still surprised by the outcome of his research. He and his colleagues wrote a short paper on their findings and titled it "The Curious Case of Jefferson Sessions."

I don't know if it's ironic or karmic or what, but there's something spiritually delicious when a douchenozzle like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III gets connected to White Supremacists by a guy who tracks Infectious Diseases.

That's some elegant shit right there.

It All Comes Back To You

What're Your Wings Made Of?

I think I posted this one a while back - worth a 2nd look anyway.

hat tip = Little Green Footballs

Today's Cheap Shot

hat tip = Little Green Footballs

Bristol Palin, who’s been advocating abstinence as a spokeswoman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, announced today that she’s pregnant out of wedlock for the second time.

And she doesn’t want any lectures from you people.

OK - no lecture, but c'mon - Abstinence Only didn't even work for GOD.  

What the fuck is wrong with you?

That Sinking Feeling

Sometimes the metaphors walk up and smack ya right in the face.

Here's a picture of Lee Jun-seok, captain of the ferry that sank off the coast of South Korea recently:

Captain Lee has been arrested because he left the ship before doing everything he was supposed to do to ensure the safety of his passengers.  Weirdly (to me anyway) the conduct of a ship's captain is generally prescribed in terms of "should" instead of "must",  but according to S Korea's laws, this guy split early and now he's in deep shit.

What if I look at this from a different perspective though?  Am I not supposed to try to see things from the point of view of people with whom I disagree?  Shouldn't I be willing to consider others' opinions and philosophies?  What if I never stop asking rhetorical questions?

Maybe I should wait until I have a chance to ask somebody directly, but I don't see it as a big stretch to imagine the reaction of Paul Ryan (eg) to Lee's behavior.  I should hope Mr Ryan would react with the same disgust and horror as the rest of us, but in one way (one that feels pretty important to me) Lee did exactly what I think Ryan and his fellows are always saying we should all do.  Lee found himself in dire circumstances, and simply turned his back on the people who were looking to him for help and guidance.

The Straw Man risk notwithstanding, it can't be all that hard for any of us to believe there's a tiny inkling of thought on the part of our current batch of "conservatives" that sounds like this: "those dead passengers should've had the gumption to save themselves - but they didn't - they had grown complacently dependent on the superior capabilities and sheer awesomeness of Capt Lee and his crew, and they were obviously just waiting around expecting a handout.  See what happens to stupid moochers!?!"

Wanna go full Romney with it?  "...do whatever it takes - borrow some money from your parents if you have to - so you can buy your own rescue boat..."

In the end - look at that picture again - having tended to his own interests to the exclusion of everything else, Capt Lee loses everything worth saving in the first place.

Just sayin' - the Slippery Slope can be a real thing.

Instant Karma

Everybody's doin' this one, so why should I be different?



I get a little crazy too when I see the boneheaded stunts people pull on the roads just about every time I venture out.  But (so far) I've managed to keep it all inside my own car.  That's kinda the important part because it allows me the rationalization of differentiating myself from the complete asshole driving the pickup in the video.  I can be kind of a dick behind the wheel, but I'm not that kinda dick.

Who Ya Gonna Be?

Now, if the obviously very clever and talented film makers could just come up with the 3rd and 4th alternatives - you know, kinda like real life - maybe it could help us figure out how not to buy into the bullshit of a strictly binary universe.

I do dearly love this little film tho'.

One Last Thing

...on the George Zimmerman cluster fuck.

Zimmerman goes free, and the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin will be delivered back to him; and his Concealed Carry permit will be reinstated as well.

Nobody knows yet, of course, what he plans on doing - this is America after all and if you can't figure out how to cash in on the notoriety you've gained from murdering a teenager then you're the worst kinda loser - but one thing's for sure: Zimmerman will definitely be packin' his gat because now he has good reason to fear for his safety because of all the haters out there.

The guy with the best justification for his paranoia is the one with the guilty conscience.

Here's hopin' Karma's a real thing.

Today In Lawlessness

hat tip = Democratic Underground

Well Well Well

Maybe this one should be filed under: About Fuckin' Time, Dude.

via The Agonist, a story out of New York's Office of the AG with the beginnings of details on pending prosecution of some of the crooks at JP Morgan:

Earlier this year, JPMorgan’s reckless trading strategy cost investors $5.8 billion. The embarrassment from investor losses was compounded by Morgan’s vast understatement of the original amount of the losses.. Chairman Dimon commented, “We learned a lot. I can tell you this has shaken our company to the core.” Apparently, there’s a prosecutorial learning curve in place regarding the broad pattern of civil and potentially criminal violations by JPMorgan and the other made men of The Money Party.

A recent survey of trust in financial institutions showed just 23% of the public trusted the big banks like Morgan and only 15% had any trust in the stock market. Schneiderman should have a favorable audience with just about any jury he chooses. The low opinion of big banks and the latent anger at the lack of prosecutions for those who caused the financial collapse will explode given the slightest opportunity.

Even before this indictment, Janet Novack of Forbes characterized the most recent culprit in the title of her Forbes article, America’s Trust in Banks Falling: Thank You, JPMorgan.” JPMorgan’s record and reputation precede the firm into any court.

Another distinct advantage for the AG is the law used to prosecute Morgan.

And remember that these high-level prosecutors almost never bet on anything that isn't real close to a sure thing.

Connections(?)

From The Raw Story:

Michael L. Leisner, the man who became world famous for an anti-LGBT protest gone wrong, has died suddenly at the age of 65. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the father of four abruptly passed away while sitting in his car, waiting for his two sons to finish their Saturday afternoon tennis practice.

I can feel sympathy for the guy's family and friends of course - but, here's a picture of all the fucks I give about this booger-eatin', bug-fuckin' jag-off: