Moms' Day

From The Atlantic:

Few holidays succeed in disappointing mothers and striking terror into the hearts of fathers on an annual basis more than Mother's Day. The holiday—which once served as a simple way to honor mothers—now conjures up images of crowded brunches, breakfast in bed, and sappy Hallmark cards. It's developed into a commercialized, ridiculous holiday overwrought with expectations.

(ed note: I waited a day to post this because I'm trying to be a little less trollish - I hope everybody had the kind of day they always wished it would be.)

Wow

The pic down there at the bottom is a very high-res composite, pieced together by a guy named Miloslav Druckmuller from Brno University of Technology in The Czech Republic.  

(y'know, if them Euro schmucks are so smart, how come they can't come up with catchy nicknames; like Czech Tech?  They prob'ly don't even have a real football team. Just sayin')

Anyway - I dunno what all happens if you click on the image; it might make your monitor explode or something - but give it a try.  And while you're gazing at it in wonderment, wonder this too: how come it seems like nobody from the US ever does this kinda thing anymore?

How come we think it's OK to build a coupla thousand M1A1 tanks that sit in mothballs doing nothing; will never be used for much except maybe target practice; and will most likely end up making some politician's brother-in-law quite wealthy 20 years from now when he suddenly discovers his burning passion for the scrap metal business), but we can't send a guy to the Pacific to take a few snapshots of something that's damned close to the most amazing thing our part of the universe has to offer?

Tell It To The White man

We're Number - What?

hat tip = Addicting Info

(And here's why Maureen Dowd's panties eyes get moist when she waxes romantic about what she wishes Obama would do for her):


BTW - Aaron Sorkin ain't the only dude been sayin' it:

Why Benghazi?

Because it's about attacking the opponent's strength(s).  It's classic Turd Blossom. Obama and Hillary and "the Dems" have gained an awful lot of ground on Foreign Policy.  And of course the Repubs won't admit it to the rubes (the rubes can't even admit it to themselves), but after Jr Bush, how could anybody not look good on Foreign Policy?  The Continentals were so relieved we elected a guy with a living thinking brain they creamed their jeans and gave him the Peace Prize before he'd actually done anything - they were just desperately hoping the Cheney/Bush nightmare was finally ending.  So the perception for the rubes is that the whole world is ass-over-apricots-in-love with Barack and Hillary, and so of course we'll need to pull them down a peg or two; and it doesn't matter that they look all shiny and clean - we'll just make something up.

It worked on The Big Dog back in the 90s.  It worked on Kerry in 2004 and they believe completely there's no reason it can't work on Hillary now.



If you wanna make your argument stick, you lead with your strength.  Because there's a brain thing that happens in humans - I've forgotten what's it's called, but it has something to do with our ability to Generalize - and it says that if I can knock down your first point in the debate, then I can knock down all the rest of your points without even knowing what they are - my brain is just wired to make that assumption.

So you attack the opponent's strength; if you can make even the tiniest dent, you can move the opinion needle back in your guy's direction; and in a political climate where the two sides are so closely divided, that tiny movement can make a big difference.

Teaching

Next time you feel the need to dump on the schools because the teachers are nuthin' but a buncha lazy stupid entitlement-sucking bureaucrats who get a free pass at taxpayer expense, I'd like you to stop for just a brief moment - and then go fuck yourself with a pinecone.

(hat tip = my darling daughter and her 10th grade Psych teacher, Mr Ramey)

Last Night On Bill Maher

Sometimes the best comedy isn't very funny.

Contextualizing Cleveland

The Professional Left podcast adds some good perspective:

(the link should open in a new tab - they start talking about it at around the 15:30 mark)

The Professional Left Podcast

Here's the tune driftglass mentions:

This street holds its secrets like a cobra holds its kill

This street minds its business like a jailer minds his jail

That house there is haunted, that door's a portal to hell

This street holds its secrets very well

That man wears his skin like a dancer wears her veils

That man stalks his victims like a cancer stalks a cell

That man's soul has left him, his heart's as deadly as a rusty nail

That man sheds his skin like a veil

Lord, you play a hard game, you know we follow every rule

Then you take the one thing we thought we'd never lose

All I ask is if she's with you please keep her warm and safe

And if it's in your power please purge the memory of this place

This life holds its secrets like a sea shell holds the sea

Soft and distant calling like a fading memory

This life has its victories but its defeats tear so viciously

This life holds its secrets like the sea

Jay Smooth Gets It

On the one hand, there's something I think is pretty important about the Charles Ramsey part of this story because it makes us challenge our own bias and see "the black dude" as a real person; and for some at least, we can generalize that perception, and remind ourselves that people are just people.

But then this:

And this:



And suddenly, lots and lots of us have the permission we need to return to a more comfortable mindset, and we're right back to: "Well, I never said there aren't any good black people...all I'm sayin' is they (insert stereotype here)".

Enter Jay Smooth to help nail it down for me, but in an even larger context.

We need to resist "this mad dash to make a meme-ified clown out of anyone who fits into the Wacky Black Guy box, or the Charmingly Uneducated Hick box..."

Eva Cassidy

Recorded at Blues Alley in Georgetown.  This was January '96, and she died a little over 10 months later.  Cancer is such a fucking thief.