Month: October 2011

#rsrh Me arguing with Colonial Williamsburg plaques, Part 2.

This was the other tooth-grating one. On the walk in, at least.

CW Walk Back In Time Sidewalk Plaque: 1954: From This Date You Tolerate Segregated Schools.

Me: No, no, no.  This is precisely the kind of dumbsh*t superficial reading of history that tries to boil down everything into a single court case – and it’s one of the primary reasons why everybody who isn’t an activist liberal doesn’t quite trust the judiciary branch to be sensible (or, indeed, sane) anymore.  Yes, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka did (properly) revoke Plessy v. Ferguson; but obviously we were not collectively tolerating school segregation before then.  If we had been collectively tolerating school (or any other kind of) segregation then neither case would have been on the docket. We would have simply let the original segregation laws go unchallenged – and never fought to repeal them.  In other words, this was not a case where the heavens opened up and beams of racial tolerance shone down upon a darkened land, suddenly making us amenable to a 9-0 US Supreme Court decision: it was a case that was the then-culmination of almost a hundred years of grappling with the concepts embodied in the 13th through 15th Amendments to the Constitution.  Said grappling was not always won by the good guys, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let you pretend that the struggle never took place at all, CW Walk Back In Time Sidewalk Plaque.

Fortunately, there was rum later. Continue reading #rsrh Me arguing with Colonial Williamsburg plaques, Part 2.

NYPD utilizing #OWS for indigent relief efforts?

(Via Jammie Wearing Fool) Which is a polite way of saying “New York cops allegedly loading Zuccotti Park up with real homeless.”

…while officers may be in a no-win situation, at the mercy of orders carried on shifting political winds and locked into conflict with a so-far almost entirely non-violent protest movement eager to frame the force as a symbol of the oppressive system they’re fighting, the NYPD seems to have crossed a line in recent days, as the park has taken on a darker tone with unsteady and unstable types suddenly seeming to emerge from the woodwork. Two different drunks I spoke with last week told me they’d been encouraged to “take it to Zuccotti” by officers who’d found them drinking in other parks, and members of the community affairs working group related several similar stories they’d heard while talking with intoxicated or aggressive new arrivals.

Read, as they say, the whole thing.  And after you do, we’ll discuss. Continue reading NYPD utilizing #OWS for indigent relief efforts?

#rsrh Social Security Doom and Gloom.

Let me refresh your memory.

The above video (via The Lonely Conservative) is from that infamous moment during George W Bush’s 2006 State of the Union address where Democrats enthusiastically applauded their successful torpedoing of Social Security reform.  Bush at the time, as you no doubt recall, advocated a partial privatization of the system that would have allowed individuals the option of creating investment accounts; the Democrats, as you also no doubt recall, fought this idea tooth and nail because it would have reduced the amount of Social Security ‘trust fund’ money that could be raided for social engineering.  And the Democrats succeeded: no reform, nothing was done, and the can was kicked once again down the road.

We are now “down the road.” Continue reading #rsrh Social Security Doom and Gloom.

#rsrh QotD, Obama Malice/Incompetence Ratio edition.

Glenn Reynolds, on the evil non-genius of this administration:

I continue to doubt that [Obama’s] as bright as either his boosters or his detractors claim.

As do I.  I can understand the temptation to see the man as a mastermind: masterminds at least have plans.  Obama’s just punching a clock until he can be an ex-President, and thus free to gently cocoon himself into the sub-demographic of Western society that will be happy to spend the next thirty or so years telling Obama how awesome he is.

Sorry.  It’s not my fault.

#rsrh Justin Bieber vs. Amy Klobuchar.

What, you’re scratching your head, too? You can’t even root for injuries; one of the two people involved is a minor.

Here’s an opinion you can take to the bank. Justin Bieber thinks Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., should go to jail for a bill she’s sponsoring. The bill would make it a felony to profit from online streaming of unlicensed content, according to the Star Tribune.

Continue reading #rsrh Justin Bieber vs. Amy Klobuchar.

This was not a good phone interview for Team Cain.

Via @ewerickson… actually, it’s going around and around and around, but I have to H/T somebody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gclK_CYyspE&feature=player_embedded#!

Anyway, for those without video, it’s a phone interview where Geraldo Freaking Rivera scores points off of Herman Cain spokesman JD Gordon over yesterday’s allegations of past sexual harassment charges made against the candidate.  Gordon was unprepared, and (at best) uninformed about the facts about the case; he should not have taken that call, frankly.  Particularly since I’m hearing that the Cain campaign had ten days to prepare. Continue reading This was not a good phone interview for Team Cain.

Women won’t give birth on Halloween?

(Via Hot Air) Apparently there’s some suggestion that it’s relatively less likely to happen – at least, as compared to Valentine’s Day.  The article speculates that it might be because of a cultural subconscious desire not to have a kid on a holiday associated with ghosts and witches and spirits and whatnot.  I’m not sure why – the only thing that I remember about kids born on Halloween is that they’re supposed to have Second Sight, which would be kind of handy to have on general principles, and a marketable skill to boot.  Mind you, I’m probably not the best person to assess that sort of thing, being a weird nerd and suchlike.

As to whether or not women can control their going into labor… I dunno, ask my wife.  She scheduled the birth of my youngest around Thanksgiving dinner; at least, that’s what it felt like.