15 July 2018

Link round-up for 15 July 2018

Various interesting stuff I ran across on the net over the last week.

o o o o o

Litterbug pwned!

Frolic with the playful pony people (found via Mendip).

Make your own rainbow.

It's one turtle all the way down.

Burn, baby, burn!

Explore the mathematics of the Eucharist.

Next time a proselytizing pest knocks on your door, try this.

Incels entertain bizarre ideas about some women's affection for horses and dogs.

Take inspiration from an achiever.

Excuses for control-freakery persist over time.

Harassers need education.

You have animals on your face (found via Professor Taboo).

The designer of this label must have been indulging in the product.

Imprisoned in its crystal tomb, the ancient evil wyrm dreams of rising again to ravage the world.

Nantes, France has a theme park with stunning cyberpunk-style animals.

The Spartan Atheist is conducting an experiment in tolerance, at a safe distance from home.

I like it better as a skate park.

This kid is smart.

Here are some things you didn't know about animals.

A heroic dog saved six lives.

Don't be fooled by coincidences.

She would have had every right to punch him out.

Here's some background on a classic movie scene.

These idiots can concoct a conspiracy from just about anything.

Why won't millennials spend money?

A right-wing prosecutor squeezes out another huge steaming pile of civility (found via Scottie).

See Strzok pwn Gowdy.

If you are or were a Christian, how did you know you were "saved"?

There must be something on these videos they don't want you to see.

What a weird obsession with virginity.

At Amazon, getting sick is a firing offense.

Just use a normal taxi FFS.

Wingnuts in Oklahoma try to stifle the decision of the people.

How would this person's story have turned out if abortion were illegal?  Republican leadership doesn't reflect the membership's views on RoeSome wingnuts are in denial about public support.  States that ban abortion would face a backlash.

Segregation was more recent than people think (found via Perfect Number).  Remember that Trump and many of his gang are in their seventies -- they grew up when this was normal.

The Senate undermines democracy, and it's going to get worse.

Migrants suffer gross abuses in US custody, including children (found via Scottie).

Micha the anthropologist wonders how to celebrate Independence Day in the time of Trump.

Fascism starts regimentation early (watch for signs of that here).  Be on guard against category-think.

Overturning Roe won't be enough for the enemy.

Tim Berners-Lee has a plan to save the internet by decentralization (link from Marc McKenzie).

🎵🎵Planets in the sky, with diamonds🎵🎵.

Early July saw record heat all over the northern hemisphere.

The British turned out in droves to welcome Trump to their country.  Here's how he's viewed in "the original Washington".  Scotland's head of government had something better to do than meet with him.

Civility be damned, people have every right to protest this scumbag.

German TV has fun with the baby Trump balloon.

Trump's tariff war is already driving closer trade ties between Germany and China (found via Jill Dennison).

Estonia is prepared for a Russian invasion.

El Al's response to religious harassment of female passengers hasn't been what they claimed.

These soccer players found a way to circumvent Russia's ban on the rainbow flag.  Of course, fascists have no sense of humor.

%$#@% theocracy arrests people for dancing.

Twenty years in prison for not wearing a scarf.

Tunis has its first woman mayor, but reactionary religious attitudes persist.

Trump's "deal" with Kim has precedent.

While Trump rants in Belgium, the House and Senate declare near-unanimous support for NATO.

Check your voter registration and keep checking.  Here's a site you can use (note:  see comment by Aurora Silvermane below).

The Republican party attracts world-class bigots and ignoramuses.  It's also becoming more anti-science as Trump drives sane people out.  The MSM should stop being distracted by rallies.

Hard-core Trumpanzees are spite voters.  Read the comments on this post (click "show comments" at the bottom) and imagine trying to have a rational conversation with these people.  See also the comments here.  And this is hypocrisyWhat happened to civility anyway?

Here's a round-up of reactions to Kavanaugh.  The fundies are lukewarm.  His biggest vulnerability is on health care, something Senate Democrats can use against him.  Ed Brayton makes the case that he won't endanger Obergefell.

Trump's tariffs begin to bear fruit domestically (several good comments on this one).  Patience is wearing thin in South Dakota.  Here's another example.  This Forbes piece calls him an economic traitor (found via Juanita Jean).  This import item is being hit hard (found via Hackwhackers).

Shower Cap reviews the week in Trumpworld.  Calvin has a round-up of images.  Green Eagle has a new wingnut wrapup (that Ginsburg cartoon, WTF?).

She warned us.

Vox gives two views on what kinds of Democrats can win in the Midwest.

The liberal backlash is coming (found via Mike the Mad Biologist).  It's appropriate to look down on hypocrites.  Strzok set an example for our candidates.  Choice of words will matter.

For more link round-ups, see Fair and Unbalanced, Mike the Mad Biologist, and Perfect Number (who finds Chinese internet censorship less than effective).

This was an actual float at a carnival in Düsseldorf in February 2018.

11 Comments:

Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

Lots of interesting stuff here, I havent even been through half of them, but wanted to leave a few comments before I have to run.

Absolutely, check your voter registration, very good tip, especially for folks like myself that are clockwork voters. I myself havent never had trouble yet, but I'm glad someone pointed this out. I been hearing alot about the election meddling and indictments, I just couldnt really figure out, why Russia saw benefit in tampering with our elections? unless they didnt like Clinton? I dont know ... it not like they got a big treat from Trump.

Yeah ... these tarriffs deals are really causing alot of concern, I didnt expect it to turn into a typw of war. But China making new alliances and trade deals is going to be their leverage, I actually feel that not Trump, but China is the one who encouraged Slim (Kim) of NK to try to deal with us. On the flip side, even though our prices for consumers, may shoot up a bit ... I would hope, that it will also inspire new companies/ investors to break ground here, to try to compete with products and prices, and produce more here in America, for domestic business and consumers. Gas is also higher at the pump, Trump wants Saudis to up production ... which is fine, Trump isnt in the oil business .... I was telling a guy yesterday ... "You wont see Trump trying to bring down real estate costs though, or push much for more affordable housing ... because he's in the real estate business".

Amazon employees piece at "Shit Speed Postings" is something that I have followed for some time, I intended several months ago to do a posting about Amazon, because of all the interesting stuff I found out about them, but again, never got to it (I know I must sound like a politician, never getting around to addressing shit, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh {:-) But some of the stuff that goes on in their warehouses, especially with the "seasonal" and "temp" folks is like slave labour, under the supervision of electronic monitors. A guy here in Dallas, a few months back was telling me, that they will pay decent at the warehouse, but the work is like really hyper, strenuous, etc ... but what he considered as decent pay, he was referring to like $15 and hour, which is what anyone wants as minimal. But I heard also, that they have like thousands of folks, and substandard wages, and just alot of negative shit. What gets me about Amazon, they want to get into everything. On one hand, I first admired Bezos for what he accomplished, but think he is just too hard on people, and he needs to understand, that not everyone is as wound up as he is, he should be better to his workers for sure ... and it's good for business doing so. Just heard on the news this morning, about some big Amazon day tomorrow, they want the postal though, healthcare, and it wouldnt surprise me of anything else.

20 years in Iran for not wearing Hijab ... that is so f*cked.

Hottest world temps all over the world recorded ... you know, they pass off this shit on the nightly news as if it's just normal, while we get desensitized to it ... this shit was accelerated and caused by man, and, there can never be enough pointing that out in public, as far as I'm concerned. All week here in Dallas, about the 100 degree mark, we got down in the 70's a couple dayz last week, only because of the thunderstorms, which are common too, in summer ... but even those intensify, because of GLOBAL WARMING. I mean, look at the record storms too.

Why dont millennials spend money ... degree required, $11- $12 bucks an hour ... aint that the truth! That's their vision of a robust workforce in neoliberalism. .... Later

15 July, 2018 08:48  
Blogger Mary Kirkland said...

It has been a particularly hot month all over the world. Every time I log into Twitter or fb people are talking about the heat. I'm just glad we haven't broken any records here in Vegas which would be over 117.

15 July, 2018 09:15  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Ranch: Putin got plenty from installing Trump. Disruption of NATO, trade wars dividing the democratic world, and increasing anti-Americanism globally due to Trump's bullying policies -- all those things are exactly what Putin wants to see, because they weaken the forces opposing the expansion of Russian power.

So far from encouraging new companies here, Trump's tariff nonsense is spurring existing companies to move production out of the US. A country which is isolating itself from the rest of the world and has unpredictable rules (because this dingbat keeps randomly changing them on a whim) is a very undesirable place for a business to operate.

There have been escalating protests in Iran against the hijab rules. Apparently the Islamo-bluenoses decided to start cracking down.

Mary: Hopefully the records will stay unbroken. That kind of heat kills people.

15 July, 2018 11:38  
Anonymous nonnie9999 said...

I'm in the middle of checking out the links, but wanted to pause and thank you for the link about the scene in Casablanca. While I love old movies, Casablanca really isn't a favorite, but I still love reading the backstories about the cast members, production staff and the real stories behind the movies. I can't watch a movie on TV without furiously googling at the same time. (I do a lot of rewinding.)

15 July, 2018 15:33  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Nonnie: I'm not all that familiar with Casablanca, but that's a powerful scene. There is one error in the linked discussion -- at that time Morocco was not a neutral country but part of the French Empire. So the French people there felt that they were on their own turf (the Moroccans might not have agreed, of course), while the Germans were present as conquerors, as they were in France itself. Which would make such an act of defiance even more risky, and courageous.

15 July, 2018 16:23  
Blogger Adam said...

Gowdy actually is my congressman, it's a shame. All the dumbass hicks here love his ass.

15 July, 2018 16:34  
Blogger Debra She Who Seeks said...

Thanks for those links about the "Pride Flag" in Russia.

15 July, 2018 17:05  
Blogger Aurora Silvermane said...

The “check your voter registration” site sent off immediate alarm bells. My understanding is that the Russians had obtained information about voters and successfully purged people from the rolls, filling out a form on a website has a whiff of willingly adding yourself to some list of future targets. In Maryland, voter registration is handled by the MVA (the DMV, for the uninitiated), and you can check your voter registration status by going to either the MVA’s or state’s website. Alternatively, you can call. I imagine it works similarly in other states.

It may be legit, but it may be phishing. Just be safe and do it the old fashioned way.

15 July, 2018 23:18  
Blogger Martha said...

I have raised two millennials. One has been out of university a few years, the other is in her final year. It is very true (sadly) about them not being able to afford many things. The salaries are low, the cost of living is high. And forget about housing. Prices are through the roof, especially in big cities.

I always enjoy these posts and go through the collection over a period of a couple of days. In this round, I kept asking myself how you can possibility find common ground with people who throw morality, reason and common sense out the window.

And I love the one about educating harassers! I had a good laugh with that. There isn't a woman I know, my two daughters included, that hasn't had to deal with crap like that. It is not only demeaning but oftentimes intimidating and even frightening.

16 July, 2018 06:13  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Adam: He's your Congressman? You have my sympathies.....

Debra: It was a clever idea, and a demonstration of how nasty the regime is.

Aurora: Good point. I think it's OK since the "Moms Rising" website it's attached to seems more elaborate than anyone would bother to set up just for s phishing scam, but I flagged the link so people can judge for themselves.

Martha: It's the natural result of decades of wage stagnation as the top 1% have creamed off all the benefits of increased productivity. It's reaching the point where people won't see any point in participating in the economy at all if they can avoid it.

I don't think we can find common ground with a lot of these wingnuts. That's why I insist on linking to right-wing sites, contrary to the common liberal blogger practice. People need to be reminded of just how "out there" and hateful they are.

Behavior like catcalling and e-mailing penis photos totally baffles me. I can't imagine it ever gets a positive response and it's obviously harassment. It's probably just another example of primate dominance displays.

16 July, 2018 07:26  
Blogger Professor Chaos said...

Oh my God, the Pony People! I saw a group of them several years back at the Folsom Street Fair. Out of all the disturbing things you see on Folsom Street, the "Stampede" group took the cake. There was something so unsettling about their patent leather horse masks and footwear that turned their feet into hooves. I don't know why, but it still makes me shudder.

18 July, 2018 16:47  

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