Jan 2, 2017
Jan 1, 2017
Today's Tweet
The definition of irony, FOX News reporting on fake news! pic.twitter.com/xEbwfJNJZq— philip harris (@pharris830) January 1, 2017
When the main subject of "the news" is "the news", we've gone beyond the reach of even the most sophisticated and sardonic irony.
This has to be a strong indication that we've been running in tighter and tighter circles for so long that we are now ready to complete the process of political evolution by disappearing up our own assholes (Allan Sherman --The Rape Of The A*P*E).
Pick A Side
In today's little fit of nostalgia, I'll say that we used to have movies for grownups where the lines were drawn pretty clearly. I'm not saying there's always a perfect dichotomy, but most of the time, there's a fairly obvious distinction between what's right and what's not, and art should illustrate those values for us - or at least reflect the values we manifest in living our everyday lives.
At some point you have to be able to step back and take a look at your own position. An art-form is supposed to help us with this self-examination thing, but it seems like something's shifted, and we've been pushed off kilter.
When I look back on some of the great movies that helped us figure ourselves out, and I start to wonder about overlaying those lessons onto our ideological alignments today, I can't help but think an awful lotta people would find themselves on the wrong side.
12 Angry Men
At some point you have to be able to step back and take a look at your own position. An art-form is supposed to help us with this self-examination thing, but it seems like something's shifted, and we've been pushed off kilter.
When I look back on some of the great movies that helped us figure ourselves out, and I start to wonder about overlaying those lessons onto our ideological alignments today, I can't help but think an awful lotta people would find themselves on the wrong side.
12 Angry Men
Seven Days In May
It's A Wonderful Life
Executive Suite
I promise this is not just me wanting to go back to some simpler time - there's no such thing in the first place.
But what I'm always going to be harping on is that we have to be committed to believing as many true things as possible and not believing as many false things as possible. And we have to keep learning and relearning the skills we need to know the difference.
Dec 31, 2016
Raising My Hand
An asshole like Trump will always call you an asshole because he's trying desperately to hide the fact that he's the asshole, while knowing with some certainty that you're not.
And now he calls us "enemy".
Glad That One's Over
Like a man who's had a thoroughly unsatisfying breakfast, and sees no great prospects for lunch.
John Oliver:
John Oliver:
To get help making sense of all these upheavals and tragedies, I reached out to Harvard psychology professor and polymath Steven Pinker. A cognitive scientist and linguist, Pinker focused his study of human nature on our propensity for violence — and conversely, cooperation — in his 2011 book, The Better Angels of Our Nature. In the book, Pinker meticulously documented a steady decline in violence over the past several centuries, which, he writes, "may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species."
In August, he told me the world is still in a more peaceful period than at any other time in history. (You can read the whole conversation here.) A few days ago, I reached out to him again. I wanted to see how Pinker was looking back over the year that was 2016 — if the election of Trump, and all the global violence that followed, had changed anything. The email conversation that follows has been edited for length and clarity.
But then again, these things run in cycles - and we're only just now entering the Trump Era - so there's always a fair chance for the whole thing to go straight into the shitter after all.
Dec 30, 2016
Today's Joke
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat on a lake below. She shouted to him:
"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat.
"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "And you must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well, madam" said the man, "You don't know where you are; you don't know how you got here, and you don't know where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to practically nothing but hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem for you. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."
"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat.
"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "And you must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well, madam" said the man, "You don't know where you are; you don't know how you got here, and you don't know where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to practically nothing but hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem for you. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."
hat tip = FB friend Bill D, via quora.com
Turnabout's Fair Play
When a Trump fans tells you to "respect" your president... SHO...— vlh (@coton_luver) December 30, 2016
Let's re. how they treated Pres. Obama, shall we? pic.twitter.com/HALa9AbhkO
It seems at first blush I'd be exposing myself to the Hypocrite charge, but that presupposes Obama and Trump are the same and that fits perfectly into the False Equivalence fallacy.
Point being that Obama didn't have any of it comin' because it was all just a buncha made-up bullshit, while it looks like practically everything Trump's taking flak for is either true or has a pretty high probability of being true.
The GOP lost their minds and set the rules that are getting them bitch-slapped right now, so they don't get to whine about how unfair they think it is.
Karma's a motherfucker.
More Bad News
Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková will NOT destroy the earth this time around, so our long global nightmare will continue for (probably) another 5.25 years - until it comes back around.
Of course, with "President" Chaos in the White House, the odds improve greatly for the end to come a little sooner.
Sleep well.
Sleep well.
Commerce Marches On
From WaPo today:
A new law in Michigan will prohibit local governments from banning, regulating or imposing fees on the use of plastic bags and other containers. You read that correctly: It’s not a ban on plastic bags — it’s a ban on banning plastic bags.--and--
Bans and restrictions on the use of plastic bags are widespread in other parts of the country and around the world. The rationale is simple: Plastic bags are infamous non-biodegradable sources of pollution — although they will eventually break down into tiny pieces, scientists believe this process can take hundreds of years, or even up to a century, in landfills.--and--
The new Michigan law was met with praise from the Michigan Restaurant Association for this reason.
“With many of our members owning and operating locations across the state, preventing a patchwork approach of additional regulations is imperative to avoid added complexities as it related to day-to-day business operations,” said Robert O’Meara, the association’s vice president of government affairs, in a statement.Threaten the Cookie Cutter Cost-vs-Profit Structure, and the Rent Collectors will punish you.
And what was that about a powerful remote Central Government imposing its will on the noble local folk?
2016 In Review
So, looking back -
Death
Death
Death
Death
Brexit
Death
Death
Death
Death
Trump
Death
Death
Death
Christm...nope, wait - Death
Serious, fuck off already
hat tip = @Bristol52
Death
Death
Death
Death
Brexit
Death
Death
Death
Death
Trump
Death
Death
Death
Christm...nope, wait - Death
Serious, fuck off already
hat tip = @Bristol52
Today's Quote
Arendt also coined "the banality of evil" - referring to how great atrocities can be traced back to the small seemingly unimportant steps taken by ordinary people who believed that were doing nothing wrong. Kinda like when the Trump transition team (eg) asks for the names of people at the Dept of Energy who attended Climate Change seminars.
We have to maintain an awareness of the Logical Fallacy of The Slippery Slope, but we must also remember that slopes do exist; and they can get pretty fucking slippery in a big fucking hurry.
Let's try to watch what we're doin'.
Dec 29, 2016
Once More From The Top
Test for truth:
The presence of Confirming Evidence
--and--
The absence of Conflicting Evidence
Test for bullshit:
The absence of Confirming Evidence
--or--
The presence of Conflicting Evidence
Today's Meme
Be the reason someone smiles today
Or the reason they drink
Whatever works the best for the most
Today's Quote
Not being loved is a simple misfortune. The true fatality is to not know how to love.
--Albert Camus (from a Spanish translation)
Dec 28, 2016
Today's GIF
And here we have a great look at what we laughingly refer to as The Press here in USAmerica Inc, during the Trump Era.
Today's Tweet
@ResolutePleb2 @jpbrammer Yes. Let's pretend white genocide isn't some shit a white dude made up because his ex likes black dick. 😂😂— Jetstream Rev (@JetstreamR3V) December 26, 2016
Dec 27, 2016
The Trump Charity Thing
Fahrenthold and Rindler have been looking pretty hard for confirmation of Trump's claims to being generous. Not much has surfaced.
Here are the first few pages of what they've found - the rest can be gandered at WaPo, and they have a nice breakdown of the timeline and various other tasty bits.
Here are the first few pages of what they've found - the rest can be gandered at WaPo, and they have a nice breakdown of the timeline and various other tasty bits.
And shouldn't we be hearing some slight murmur from the Press Poodles about Trump's tax returns?
A Silly Thing
Wait for it.
Wait for it... pic.twitter.com/hg68cx390d— Joe Bloggs (@joebloggs8040) December 24, 2016
Today's Tweet
Just in case you still think Assange is some kind of truth-teller... https://t.co/OP3eCWnIr8 pic.twitter.com/MBdjhAqicJ— Joshua Holland (@JoshuaHol) December 25, 2016
It seems it's never what it seems.
Dec 26, 2016
Winning At A Very Steep Price
He says near the end of the interview that the best thing the Bushies did was to split and give him the room to get his thing going, so I don't see him doing it, but I'd dig the fuck outa Obama becoming the Troll In Chief, making life miserable for Trump.
Lost Another Good One
I was never a big fan - except for Kissing A Fool (that's one of the all-time great tunes) - but George Michael died yesterday and there just has to be a place on the short list for this one great album from way back in 1990.
PS) The Boomer Death Wave is underway now - we can expect 2 million of us to die every year for the next 10-20 years.
Fuck your bucket list - get out there and do shit.
On Swamps And Alligators
It's hard to miss Gingrich's deft use of the passive voice. He is a master at getting the listener to think he's just talking about stuff in very general non-threatening terms, and that he's far above any of the mundane power-grubbing shenanigans that go on down there in the swamp.
And that's what Trump needs him for - Newt's role is to teach the Trumpkinites all the Media Relations tricks they need to normalize the shit storm.
The point that really stands out for me: Gingrich saying Trump can use a very broad application of the Presidential Pardon in order to get around the fact that he plans on ordering people to do things that're obviously illegal.
Let that one percolate for just a bit.
The bearer has done what was done in the name of the king and for the good of the state. --RichelieuI guess when Newton Leroy Gingrich read The Three Musketeers, he concluded that Cardinal Richelieu was the good guy(?)
We are so fucked.
Today's Tweet
Playing with my Christmas present. pic.twitter.com/7YcS4WvfD4— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) December 25, 2016
Today's Quote
Carl Paladino's 2017 Wish List (partial)
1. Obama catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Herford. He dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarret, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a jihady cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and decapitated her.
2. Michelle Obama. I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.So, I guess that's another shining example of Middle Class Economic Angst that Hillary failed so miserably to address(?)
Dec 25, 2016
Yeah But It's Christmas
Today is a very special day for me, but that doesn't mean I stop thinking.
When your theism is outwardly silent, my atheism will be as well. Merry Christmas.
When your theism is outwardly silent, my atheism will be as well. Merry Christmas.
Today's Tweet
Pushing Back
THE SG UPDATED CONFIRMED LIST: https://t.co/4TYRUOj9sv— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) December 16, 2016
THE SG FAQ: https://t.co/wfSUQBjOgj
REMOVE ADS YOURSELF: https://t.co/V4V8qWyyv3 pic.twitter.com/JszlNFryKY
On Christmas Day In The Mornin'
Cat Lord does not suffer fools. Maintain proper feline decorum or be punished.
This Cat does not have time for your bullshit pic.twitter.com/A26BeQ8Gnr— Aaron Vallely (@Vallmeister) December 24, 2016
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