Slouching Towards Oblivion

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Facebook


It's the money, stupid.

Ari Melber's take:



Money is power, and for some folks, power is everything.

Today's Tweet



We've got some pretty low standards here in USAmerica Inc.

 

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Today's Life Lesson


Depression is your soul telling you to make a change - but not the kind of change where you get a neck tattoo or decide you'd look good with bangs.

Today's Quote

The difference between a cult and a religion is that the latter is old. Like, stepping into a pile of dogshit makes you curse, but stepping into a pile of dinosaur shit makes you famous. Despite both being crap. 
— Opportunist.

Love Her Hate Her Whatever


Donna Brazile is well known for two things: losing elections, and standing in the wreckage yelling, "We was robbed!"

But she knows things. She had a front row seat last fall. The bit about the Russians (starting about 28:30) is very interesting and way fuckin' scary.



And never mind the fact that she takes a nice big dump on the Press Poodles for being lazy enough to buy into the Follow-The-Popular-Drift bullshit (thank you, Donna). Way too many of the big news outlets here in USAmerica Inc are operating on the Show Biz model, where the coverage is guided by what's trending on social media instead of what's real and/or important.

Flocks of Bots (many, if not most, of which are controlled the Russkies) are practically dictating what we do and where we go - and they're very useful for "winning" elections.

Automated Rapid Response on a hyper-industrialized level.

Closer To The Borg

Science be scary sometimes.






BTW - next year will mark the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

Monday, November 13, 2017

This Week In 45* World


The first couple of 121 items on this week's list.

Amy Siskind:

November 11, 2017

This week started and ended in chaos, with a respite in-between as Trump traveled to Asia and stayed on script. The length of this week’s list is a testament to how broad-based the attacks on and the erosion of norms and our democracy have become — well beyond Trump as the sole actor.

The Resistance that started as Trump took office has grown in both impact and power, as evidenced by Tuesday’s elections, which were a wipe-out for Republicans and an amazing display of diversity. A revolution around sexual assault and harassment is gathering steam, with offenders being outed daily.

All the while, the Mueller probe progresses. This week more ties between the Trump campaign and Russia were exposed, and questions surfaced as to the knowledge and engagement of senior people on the campaign, including Trump.

1) WAPO reported as the winter tourism season kicks in, Trump has secured 70 H-2B visas from the Labor Department to hire cooks, maids, and servers to work at Mar-a-Lago, despite urging the country to hire American.

Good Guys Explained

Some slopes are more slippery than others

To Be Clear

Overheard on FB and Twitter:

"Conservative Evangelicals" are calling for a boycott of Keurig's products because Keurig's parent company is pulling its ads from DumFux News in response to Sean Hannity's on-air attempts to justify Roy Moore's sexual contact with under-aged girls.

They're against Keurig because Keurig is against PEDOPHILIA - this is who these people are.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Today's Tweet



I don't know exactly what "leadership" is, but since 45* took over, I know a lot more about what it isn't.

 

Today's Pix

Click a pic to start the show























Saturday, November 11, 2017

Careful What You Ask For

The GOP movers-n-shakers have been pushing for a radically de-centralized system for a good long time - recently pimping a particularly self-destructive brand of conspiracy and paranoia.  Well, fellas, you got it. It's here. Is it workin' OK for ya?

WaPo:

Roy Moore’s refusal to bow out of Alabama’s special election for a Senate seat is the latest demonstration of the diminished power of congressional leaders and other, once-powerful institutions in Washington.

The Republican nominee, accused of sexual contact with a 14-year-old when he was a 32-year-old local prosecutor, brushed off calls for him to stand down as part of plot by establishment figures to “undermine this campaign” before the Dec. 12 ballot. Moore ignored the severing of financial ties by the National Republican Senatorial Committee for similar reasons.

He summed up today’s environment in a fundraising pitch to supporters Friday morning: “I will NEVER GIVE UP the fight!”

Moore is right — it might be entirely up to him when or if he will ever give up the fight. The tools available to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Washington figures to drive him out of the race either no longer exist or have been rendered impotent by the rise of a new political structure. From the media to big corporations to Congress, public distrust has grown across the board and made it easier for outlier figures such as Moore to thumb their nose at the so-called leaders.



Today's Today

Armistice - at the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month









Roy Moore Pickup Lines



"Hey, girl - wanna see my little gun?"



 

 

 

American Capitalism


Unfortunately, this isn't new. I think we saw this several years ago. But no matter - when you'll sell armor plates to parents for their grade-schoolers' backpacks instead of insisting that lawmakers address the problem at its source, you have to stop pretending you're arguing against reasonable gun laws from any kind of principled position.

CNN:

A Miami private school is offering parents an unusual item for sale: bulletproof panels for their kids' backpacks. 

The Florida Christian School website has a list of items available for purchase. These include winter wear, red school logo T-shirts and ballistic panels

George Gulla, dean of students and head of school security at Florida Christian School, told CNN the bulletproof panels would add "another level of protection" to students of the pre-K through grade 12 school "in the event of an active shooter."



Any foolish claim you've made to the Moral High Ground is now forfeit.

And also too - nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste or intelligence of the American public.