Today's Etch-A-Sketch Moment

George Pataki, via Addicting Info

"What I said 38 seconds ago means nothing now - why do you insist on living in the past!?! This is what I'm saying right now because I need everything to mean something else. And I didn't even say what you say I said - I was misquoted and taken out of context and YouTube doesn't even exist as far as GOP voters are concerned (unless of course the title says 'Stupid Librul Totally Destroyed On Fox And Friends'), so I can say any nutty thing I wanna say because I can count on plenty of good Americans to think of nothing but their burning urgent need for instant gratification, and by the grace of God, FREEDOM!!! Am I right, America? USA! USA! USA!" 

Somebody hand that guy the Etch-A-Sketch.

There is no soul and no honor in way too much of the GOP.

And BTW, credit where credit is due - way to go, Chris

On The Downside Of Up

(Update: Prob'ly not a real tweet - couldn't find it anyway)

"Conservatives" are always on about "they're coming to take our jobs!"  And the Un-Crazies have so far only rebutted by saying things like, "they're only taking jobs we don't wanna do anyway", and "what fuckin' jobs you even talkin' about?".

Here it is:

These Trumpkins (et al) - are they thinking they can't compete?  These awesomely awesome Americans just aren't up to it?  And so what they really really really want is for Da Gubmint to do something about it?  Is that what I'm hearing?

You're welcome.

A Culture Of Mediocre

Rap. Gangsta Rap. Hip Hop. Swag Rap. Grime. Pick a Sub-Genre.

We were afraid.  The youngsters were outa control, listening to the horribly horrible-est noise ever to emerge from the pits of hell; nobody'd ever come up with anything so evil ... and ... yeah - prob'ly not so much.  At least not considering that everybody's said exactly the same thing about every shift from one pop music era to the next, going back thru Rock-n-Roll and Swing and Jazz and all the way back to the fucking Waltz and beyond.

Insert standard rant(s) about American Pop Culture Is Bullshit - or - Stupid Corporate Bastards Are Killing The Vibe - or - what-the-fuck-ever, man.

Evolution, motherfucker - it gets shit done. 

hat tip = tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors

Today's Vast RW Conspiracy

That's been rattling around in my head for a while now. So why does Limbaugh feel the need to slag NASA for finding water on Mars?  

I'm thinkin' a couple or three things here:

1- He has to push back against the normal tendency to give Obama credit for anything (it happened on his watch, so yeah).

2- If there's life on Mars, and it confirms an already-known-as-probable connection to life forms here on Earth, then it further erodes (ie: finally and completely dismantles) the bible's creation myth; and there goes sin; there goes the redeemer; there goes the religion - poof it's all gone.

3- If they can't find some kind of specious denial, then it all plays against the "conservative" strategy to move us closer to authoritarian rule which depends on blending church with state (see #2 above).

But then (not to give y'all whiplash or anything by swerving violently), I gotta ask, why are the wingnuts so strident about "fighting radical Islam"?  Why are the "threats" always Iran and ISIS and al-Qaeda, instead of the real ones like a resurgent Imperial Russia or Global Corporatism or the crashing biosphere?

I think what we're looking at here is pretty much the same old game of Fear Mongering, but nobody's gonna get much traction from the Arms Race / Missile Gap thing, plus this is the age of Branding & Differentiation, so they have to transition to something more topical and up-to-date, so we get something like, "What we have here is a Theocracy Gap - we can't afford to let those Moozlum bastards get ahead of us on this!"

People who're supposed to know about such things are telling us that the governments that're more authoritarian will be better able to react to the enormous shit wave that's beginning to swamp the world because of Climate Change.  The near-total disruption of everything we think of as stable and permanent; all those systems of Politics and Economics and Civilized Societies; all of that will change in a big way, and a shitload of that change will not be for the better.

Controlling the power of the government is the goal for these guys (btw - fuck Godwin, I'll go with Fascism - or TheoFascism if you prefer - on this one); theocracy being both the means to that end, and the mask of benevolence necessary to rationalize and excuse the brutality that always follows.

They don't like democracy. The don't trust us with our own governance. They insist on our complacency and our compliance, which makes us complicit in our own downfall.

And now, for your dining and dancing pleasure, here's a quick look at Proto-Limbaugh and the original Dittohead.

If it was any less tragic, it wouldn't be so fucking funny.

The I's Have It

I'm not contending that this says more than it says; or that it's indicative of any deeper meaning.

But it does line up pretty well with what we're always being told about leaders and leadership.

hat tip = (#1 Son) NN

Today's Pix

And The Hits Keep Rollin'

hat tip = Facebook buddy BD

Some Costume Ideas

Today's Truth In Advertising

hat tip = Facebook buddy DR

5th Base

Bristol Palin has her panties in a wad - no wait, that's a bad way to start something with her - well, actually it seems like that's how it's started with her at least twice - no wait, that's not good either.  We don't slut-shame here.  We like sluts here.  No, wait.  Dammit.

Uhmm - never mind.  Look, Bristol Palin isn't really worth the time or the effort, so let's just sit back and enjoy some Garfunkel & Oates.

hat tip = janecita

STFU, Donny

Fighting My Way

And That's The Way It Is

Ladies and Germs - Jonathan Pie:

hat tip = Facebook buddy DR

Emily's Birthday

I stumbled across this a week or two ago.  Another little historical tidbit I had no idea about.  Seems kinda important actually, especially considering we're in the middle of our National Save The Ta-Tas Festival.  I figured since we're gonna spend 8.5% of our year trying to give a fuck about 51% of our population (which makes up 100% of our moms wives and daughters), maybe I could make some tiny effort to learn something about and appreciate one whole person.

So here ya go:

Emily Davison was born this day in 1872.

...militant activist who fought for women's suffrage in Britain. She was jailed on nine occasions and force-fed 49 times.[1] She stepped in front of King George V's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derbyon 4 June 1913, suffering fatal injuries. Her funeral on 14 June 1913 was organised by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Thousands of suffragettes accompanied the coffin and tens of thousands of people lined the streets of London. After a service in Bloomsbury, her coffin was taken by train to the family grave in Morpeth, Northumberland.[2]

Modern historians agree that Davison was trying to disturb the Derby to draw attention to her cause, rather than to commit suicide,[3][4] and 2013 analysis of newsreel has supported the idea that Davison was reaching up to attach a scarf to the bridle of the King's horse. Analysis of newsreel also indicated that her position before she stepped out onto the track would have given her a clear view of the oncoming race, further countering the belief that she ran out in a haphazard way to kill herself.[5]

I guess I just love tough gutsy people.

Things Change

hat tip = Facebook buddy VWE

Today's Pix

What Charlie Said, et al

Charlie Pierce:

The balance of power in half the national legislature now seems to be in the hands of the crème de la crazee. (This is such a mess at this point that Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny starver from Wisconsin, and a man whose ambition makes Satan look like Uriah Heep, has done everything except hire a skywriter to say he's not interested.) Is this finally enough for the elite political press to notice that half the American political process is in full-blown dementia? Or does Jason Chaffetz have to lose, too?

 And from Matty Ice via twitter:

SHOCKING: Rep. Kevin McCarthy drops out of Speaker race to join Hillary's campaign.

— MATTY ICE (@MattyIceAZ) October 8, 2015

That purity movements are self-limiting is supposed to be self-evident.  But, like JFK said, there's always gonna be at least one son-of-a-bitch who doesn't get the word.

So, I guess I'm thinking this is another stellar example of the upside-down-and-bass-ackwards-ness of trying to apply The Greater Fool to a certain brand of politics.

And, as always, Brother Driftglass reminds us to be ever watchful for the coming Both-Sides bullshit:

2. What shiny, Dirty Hippy-shaped object will the Beltway press now deploy to continue the pretense that this problem is shared equally by Both Sides? My guess is, since this is an "All Hands On Deck" Both Siderist emergency, we can expect the David Brookses, Ron Fourniers and Mark Halperins to be called out to work double shifts on the Sunday Gasbag Cavalcade.

From time to time, just remind yourself that eventually this comes down to, "we both know the whole world is fucked up 'cept for you and me - and I'm beginning to have my doubts about you."

Pick A Bias, Any Bias

The more we learn, the more we understand how little we actually know.

A cognitive bias refers to a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment, whereby inferences about other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion.[1] Individuals create their own "subjective social reality" from their perception of the input.[2] An individual's construction of social reality, not the objective input, may dictate their behaviour in the social world.[3] Thus, cognitive biases may sometimes lead to perceptual distortion, inaccurate judgment, illogical interpretation, or what is broadly called irrationality.[4][5][6]

Some cognitive biases are presumably adaptive. Cognitive biases may lead to more effective actions in a given context.[7] Furthermore, cognitive biases enable faster decisions when timeliness is more valuable than accuracy, as illustrated in heuristics.[8] Other cognitive biases are a "by-product" of human processing limitations,[9] resulting from a lack of appropriate mental mechanisms (bounded rationality), or simply from a limited capacity for information processing.[10]

A continually evolving list of cognitive biases has been identified over the last six decades of research on human judgment and decision-making in cognitive science, social psychology, and behavioral economics. Kahneman and Tversky (1996) argue that cognitive biases have efficient practical implications for areas including clinical judgment.[11]

Some examples:

A Music Thing

Tiny Desk Concerts

What You Don't Do
Unstoppable
Forget
--Lianne LaHavas

hat tip = Little Green Footballs

Refresher Time

Not milk and cookies so much - well, maybe, but grab enough for a couple meals or whatever; this can take a while.

The Power Of Nightmares Part 1: Baby, It's Cold Outside 

You can find Parts 2 & 3 at the archives