The Washington Post’s Radley Balko has a horrifying story, “Video shows white cops performing roadside cavity search of black man”. The next time you hear racist right-wingers like Chris Christie ranting about President Obama’s “War on Cops,” think about stories like this one.
Author: Alan Vanneman
Pathetic Congress
Back in the day, Dwight Eisenhower, provoked beyond endurance by the right-wing posturing of forgotten California Republican mossback Sen. William Knowland, remarked that “With him there is no final answer to the question ‘How stupid can you get?’” With today’s Congress, there is no final answer to the question “How petty can you get?” Politico…
Today in Blimp News: Airlander 10 “Flying Arse” readies for take-off
Over a year ago I made remark of the fact that every ten years or so, the lamestream media runs a “Here Come the Blimps” feature predicting a stunning renaissance in lighter-than-air craft, a renaissance that, sadly, never seems to pan out. Last fall, I reprised my skepticism when a U.S. Army blimp, moored outside…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “The bigger the man, the littler the shovel, sonny boy.” “In cases like this, leverage resolves the inequalities. You’ll find it in Archimedes.” “Don’t sweat the small shit, kid. That’s my job.” “Yeah, you make it clean, but I make it pretty.” “You got to swing the big…
Thunk!—“Off Minor”
https://youtu.be/ScyQ96TIcyU Stephen Gauci: Tenor Saxophone; Kenny Wessel: Guitar; Michael Bisio: Bass; Jeremy Carlstedt: Drums. Posted by Stephen Gauci
Doctors and lawyers and dentists, oh my!
Brookings dude Jonathan Rothwell largely explains where the money is going these days—hint: not always to the people who deserve it—and suggests some ways to make things more equal. First off, Jon says that things aren’t as bad as some folks are saying. The share of the national economic pie going to “labor” hasn’t been…
The Wrath of Krauthammer
It is a truism among big-time journalists that you always sell the same piece three times. It is a fact of human nature that we enjoy pissing on our enemies. And it is thus a double pleasure for me to take another poke at one of my favorite hypocrites, Charles Krauthammer. Charles Krauthammer is not…
Michael V. Hayden seriously full of it, says Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Never piss off a United States senator. There once was no greater advocate of the “War on Terror” than California Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee until the Republicans took over in 2014. But the CIA, in a classic case of compulsive over-reaching, tried to strong-arm her and her committee, turning a…
Ted Cruz, the current ninny and future king
In two recent postings, here and here, Ross Douthat concludes that the Republican Party as we know it will soon no longer exist. “There is now no possibility that the Republican Party will survive its rendezvous with Donald Trump unbroken.” Which means that on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017, there will be two Democratic presidents…
Why is Bernie Sanders popular with college students? Because Bernie Sanders is a college student!
Think about it: What does Bernie promise the kids? Vote for me, and you’ll be able to spend your life doing cool stuff—saving the planet!—and other people will pay for it! Just what you’re doing now! Or at least, were doing, until you graduated and had to, you know, work for a living! Sounds entrancing,…