02 December 2018

Link round-up for 2 December 2018

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

o o o o o

Smart dog (found via Mock Paper Scissors).

Dare you order this menu item?

Here's how to upload pictures to Instagram from a computer (I'm hazy on what that means, but it sounds useful).

Bob Slatten has a cartoon round-up.

"Roger that, carry on....."

These police drug stings are getting out of hand.

In case you were wondering what became of that kid from The Omen..... (found via Calvin).

Some beasts are not meant to be caged.

Persevere, and you will reach the summit.

Ami at I. Am. Mental. is collecting bad names.

This ad for New Zealand Air is kind of cute, with a little dig at Trump.

It's nice when a pick-up line offers options.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

What home appliance could you do without?

Jesus explains what's OK and what isn't (found via Scottie).

Yuuuuge best-selling book.

Bluzdude debunks some wingnut rhetoric.

Bullshit fosters the growth of other bullshit.

Don't claim abuse is the victim's fault.

They both have issues (found via Scottie).

Not all superheroines wear capes.

This protest was an amusing fiasco.

It's not just Big Bird -- conservatives have always hated Sesame Street.

King Tut lived a short and miserable life.

Washington Post readers take a shot at re-defining words (similar to my Improving words posts).

Carolina Parrothead reviews Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth.

I've long thought that Jesus might have been a fictional character invented by Saul of Tarsus.  But there's not even much evidence that Saul of Tarsus really existed.

Keep copies of everything -- the internet is not secure.

Evil supervillains join forces.

Ray Hill was an early fighter for gay rights in Houston.

Yesterday was the 63rd anniversary of the arrest of Rosa Parks.

There's still time to take action for net neutrality (found via Politics Plus).

So much for "compassionate conservatism".

God speaks to us, but he can't keep his story straight.

Self-checkout is a pain in the ass and worse is coming (found via Mike the Mad Biologist).

If you're hazy on who Jerome Corsi is, Green Eagle has a recap.  Apparently Corsi has a friend at the top.

Read a couple of good letters at Hackwhackers and Hometown USA.

Some people understand what energy is; others do not.

I wish they knew how to quit him.

Crooks and Liars reviews the history of anti-Semitism in the US.

This column and the story of its suppression need to go viral (found via Politics Plus).

Farm bankruptcies skyrocket as tariff wars rage.

The town of Republic, Washington considers becoming a sanctuary city (expect to see a lot more of this).

Here's another street name change I could support.

Cities start to show how liberal they are by.....giving kids school lunches.

A Christian group wants the tribe that killed John Chau "brought to justice".  I suspect they're doomed now -- fundies will keep pestering them until germs or a violent clash wipe them out.

Green Eagle reviews the world of wingnuttery, revealing that Obama dresses like a cross between Liberace and Satan.

Only 20% of Americans cite religion as their most important source of meaning in life (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

We've seen something a bit like this before (found via Mock Paper Scissors).

A North Carolina school where many parents reject vaccination on religious grounds suffers the state's worst chickenpox outbreak in twenty years (found via Massive Enormity).  The romaine lettuce disaster is the natural result of deregulation.  The Republican destruction of unions is doing this to US workers.  Our high level of economic insecurity makes poverty worse than official statistics suggest (found via Miss Cellania).  We are literally becoming a Third World country due to stupidity and ideology.

This kind of thing is why Americans will eventually vote for socialized medicine.

This kind of thing is why Americans will eventually reject unconstrained capitalism.

Health insurers increasingly refuse to pay emergency-room bills, but you do have recourse.

There are anti-science ideas on the left, but I really think very few leftists actually believe these things. 

In a time of triumphant stupidity, InSight's arrival on Mars gave the smart people something to celebrate.

Professor He Jiankui's claims of achieving anti-HIV gene editing in humans are dubious, but I note that "such work is banned in most countries", suggesting that the rest of the world is ceding leadership in this field to China.

There's still a chance to mitigate global warming, but it won't be easy.  Republicans are worse than useless.

The US begins to stand up to the gangster-regimes again:  The Senate condemns Russian aggression in Ukraine, and our Navy signals a warning to China in the Taiwan strait.

Kaveh Mousavi reviews a book arguing that US global dominance is invincible.  I note, though, that it doesn't seem to address the issue of rot from within as opposed to challenge from without (and it was written before Trump).

Perpetrators of a vicious biphobic attack in Britain suffer little punishment.

Socialist countries are slow and bureaucratic (found via Miss Cellania).

Some Western nations still take a strong stand against homophobia.

Germans and Americans have very different views of relations between their countries.

Another day, another execution in Saudi Arabia.

The latest industrial disaster in China shows once again the result of lax regulation.

Electoral-Vote looks at George HW Bush and the degeneration of the Republican party.  Pinku-Sensei remembers the last Republican President he voted for.

Shower Cap chronicles the week in Trumpworld.

The Debate Link reviews how the states are trending.

NRO sounds the alarm about the Republican implosion in Orange county.

Trump is losing clout within his own party (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

No, there isn't a Democratic equivalent to the Freedumb Caucus.  We didn't elect a Democratic majority to make nice with monsters (found via Frances Langum).  They don't play nice with us.  And can it with the pointless infighting.

Republicans will keep on cheating because it's all they've got.

Stacey Abrams and activists are fighting to restore real democracy in Georgia.

Religion is a better predictor of support for Republicans than education or gender are (found via Mike the Mad Biologist).  But Democrats made inroads with every Republican demographic.

Long before Trump, another unworthy authoritarian ruler used the military as props for self-aggrandizement.  It didn't end well for him.

[682 days down, 780 days to go until the inauguration of a real President!]

7 Comments:

Blogger Mary Kirkland said...

That kid from the Omen...that was funny.
We had a bigger dog run for our dog until he was house trained but he could move that thing all over the kitchen until Ken screwed it to the wall. lol

Thanks for adding my link in there as well. I hope the info helps some people who were having trouble uploading pics to Instagram.

02 December, 2018 10:32  
Blogger Ami said...

A lot of interesting links as usual.
In reading comments at many of the links you posted, I'm once again struck by how smart people can be. I love the internet, it's a platform where everyone can speak. One's ability to be heard varies, I suppose, not everyone wants to read the message, but it's fascinating to get a glimpse of thought processes and ideas that I'd never hear otherwise.

02 December, 2018 11:30  
Blogger jenny_o said...

Thank you for linking to my post. Judging by your list, you have a major reading habit!

02 December, 2018 17:51  
Blogger Debra She Who Seeks said...

I like the pick-up line with options!

LOVE the DC group's idea to change the name of the street outside the Saudi Embassy to Jamal Khashoggi Way! I hope it goes through!

02 December, 2018 19:49  
Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

As far as cops posing as drug dealers or dopers scoring, this has been going on heavily over the last 20 years or so ... it's become a sort of game, you know, cops high- fiving on who gets the most scores, etc. In Florida they use female cops on vice crews to pull in guys looking to pick up girls too, the female officer cleverly words her approach to the guys, the guy agrees (all the trick has to do is say half and half, all the way or whatever, and the female cop only uses the question "looking for a date, baby") she scratches her head to signal a standby crew once she gets the right word out of the trick, crew moves in on the guy, etc. Same thing on dope, they pose as a homie looking to score, go to a line (contact) or person slinging (selling) dope, say their homie (a name they know is familiar to dealer or hood/ area), boom! once the right word is confirmed ... they get a case of distribution/ delivery. Or they pose as one dealing/ slinging, they stand on the corner of well known dope area, they look the part, wait for cars to pull up, they say, "wassup?, whatcha need?", the car person sayz they need a 20, 50 or whatever, undercover seller then gives a signal like the female officer on the vice sting, backup unit waits for the driver to drive off about a block out of sight, takes down the person who just scored from the undercover, and in some cases, they actually use product/ dope they got out of property/ evidence. Years ago, the shit they pull now, would have been considered "entrapment" ... and can still be, if you know your shit or got good defense. The shit they pull these dayz is clearly a mockery of our Constitution.

Funny event during sex in the military area ... I think we all had some odd predicaments from time to time, I certainly did ... may not have seemed to funny at the time, but looking back gets a laugh.

Denial of vaccines on religious grounds ... yeah, they play the religious card on that, and religious institutions keep that herd conformity as far as beliefs. But what I see happening is even deeper today ... there has been a new cultural push of sort, there is a shitload of propaganda out there getting to mainly religious folks through their contacts, that government is pushing these vaccines to try to kill off millions of people, a conspiracy, if you will. Too deep to get into short here.

Trump losing influence in his party? ... the way I see it, is he lost many long ago, the establishment GOP certainly dont like him much, but they won't buck him too much, since they're getting their little treats and his following too, which they're toast without his followers, as far as numbers ... so they do a little head turning, let too much shit slide though on the backside. Trump runs a pretty good game too, but I think he is getting a little senile as well. I don't hate Trump, but think he is just really lousy as President of a country as diversified as this ... this ain't goddamn 1960's/ 1970's Queens either ... lighten up, Trump.

Romaine lettuce watch ... you got it, another for the deregulation expectations, I'm actually expecting quite a bit of this, if we continue to deregulate the way we are, this is also bad for business, but hard to explain to folks intoxicated with profits ... like any kind of addict, they need to feel hard hits to change ... and like you know, they don't feel shit these dayz, if they do, we run and bail/ save them ... in a REAL capitalistic society, we would let them fail and fold.

I know this thing is probably fixin to tell me I got too many characters.

03 December, 2018 14:01  
Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

China's deadly chemical explosion, is a perfect example of deregulation. Like Warren sayz (one of my favourite Senators) ... take the cop off the block, were looking for failure.

Heart transplant declined ... everything in healthcare today is nickel and dimed to death too. Back when I had kidney stone surgery, 5- 6 years? can't remember, anywayz, I seen one doctor who wanted a ct- scan, then when I went to another doctor they sent me to a week later (and this is to detect a specific kind of stone, that can't be detected on regular x-ray), this other doctor sends me to get a ct- scan ... I said "Hey, why don't we just use the one I just had (I was thinking of the money and my out- of- pocket end too) ... he sayz ... "sure, we can do that". In other words, if I wouldnt have recommended it, they were going to do the same test twice ... and both these docs were in the same healthcare network, at that. But yeah man ... everything is about the buck. Here's the bottom line in the U.S., as I told my sister- in- law, Margie, who worx as an RN in Toronto's healthcare system ... the more money you got, the better care you get, if you get any ... "no money, no honey, baby". It's been that way for some time, but has really gotten much worse on that issue.

Self checkout shit is another scam cloaked in "for your convenience" (I have used them a few times, but rarely, I try to avoid them). I was at a large chain market last week with a friend, just getting a few items for myself, like soap, shave, toothpaste, etc. There was actually a waiting line in the self checkout section, and only "one" cashier with only 2 people in line. I was telling my friend how I loathe using the self checkout too, she asked why? I told her, because "If I have to service myself, sack and check my own stuff ... I should get at least say 5% off or whatever ... I mean, you're telling me to do all the work for free, on the service you're supposed to be giving me?" ... I mean, WTF! I got the same shit as far as todayz so called "service" from my cable tele provider, my cable kept screwing up, they told me they can't get someone to look at it for a few dayz, didn't even suggest they would prorate my bill for the dayz I would miss and pay for, after I spent over a goddamn half hour on the phone with the lady trouble- shooting, to try to fix it. You know what ole Ranch Chimp done, eh? I dropped that service like a bad date ... went to another provider, I mean, this happened like 2 times before that time too.

I like that caged dog running with the cage with him ... he's got it goin on {:-)

Daily Kos piece on what you get after 30 years of service was really a good read too. No severance, no nothing, that is also this neoliberal culture, I heard these big giants today, lay- off people with an email at the last minute even, no warning, anything. Yes, CEO's and the rest get all the treat and parachutes, and don'e do squat actually in many cases, perfect reason for employees to retaliate too.


I'm outta here ....

03 December, 2018 14:40  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Mary: Dogs don't seem to like being confined to one place, that's for sure.

Ami: Interesting observation. Most people focus on the stupidity on the internet, but it's true, there are a lot of smart people posting too, who can now be read far more widely than before.

Jenny: That's certainly true. Besides the internet, I have probably about two cubic yards of books.

Debra: Especially since the embassy will need to change its official address to that.

Ranch: It's getting pretty bad when the cops have to score off each other. Anyway, don't they have real stuff like, you know, muggings and burglaries to deal with?

If religious nuts reject modern medicine, I think of it as natural selection in action.

Self-checkout doesn't seem to be popular. Every time I'm in a store there are lines for the human cashiers and plenty of free self-checkout spots.

Don't worry about having too many characters. There are usually a lot of "characters" in my comment threads. :-)

05 December, 2018 05:39  

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