Month: October 2013

This “Persistent Dread” horror anthology by @Doc_0 of Human Events is quite good.

I decided to give this short story horror anthology by Human Events writer John Hayward a shot because, hey, three bucks on Kindle. I’m about two-fifths of the way through, and so far I’d say that I got my money’s worth. John’s got a good handle on the genre and the short story style: check it out.

Via, obviously…

Moe Lane

PS: I have yet to encounter anything particularly politically partisan in the stories. In case that would be an issue for anyone.

Tweet of the Day, Oh Wow A Bill Watterson Interview! edition.

Some day I’d like to find out if there was anything more than a Meh. I’m well out of it behind Watterson’s post-Calvin and Hobbes retreat from the world. Doubt I ever will, though.

 

Joe Garcia (D, Florida 26) SWEARS that that $25 grand payout wasn’t hush money.

Oh, dear.  This looks very awkward:

What’s worse than firing your top political adviser and chief of staff amid a state elections-fraud investigation? Having to pay him $25,000 in invoices that appear once the FBI opens up a separate inquiry.

Welcome to Congressman Joe Garcia’s world. Continue reading Joe Garcia (D, Florida 26) SWEARS that that $25 grand payout wasn’t hush money.

Yale professor finds hint of a suggestion that Tea Partiers aren’t scientific illiterates; *doesn’t* suppress it.

It is a general indictment of our current system of academia that I can’t decide which of these passages will offend said academics more. First, this observation:

Yale Law professor Dan M. Kahan was conducting an analysis of the scientific comprehension of various political groups when he ran into a shocking discovery: tea party supporters are slightly more scientifically literate than the non-tea party population.

(Um. No, it’s not actually shocking*.) Anyway, here’s Professor Kahan’s reaction: Continue reading Yale professor finds hint of a suggestion that Tea Partiers aren’t scientific illiterates; *doesn’t* suppress it.

Quote of the Day, Only The New York Times Would Say This Was ‘Paradoxical’ edition.

The New York Times, coming down from its schadenfreude high to discover that, nope, Obamacare is still a steaming, radioactive hot mess that is also on fire*, writes:

Problems finding providers or drug coverage are occurring mainly on state exchanges paradoxically because those Web sites are working better than the federal insurance exchange used by 36 states.

Translation: the states are (marginally) better at complying with federal regulations than the federal government is itself. Raise your hand if this shocks you.

Moe Lane

*And how did Barack Obama manage that uniquely mixed metaphor?  Well, to quote the philosopher: it wasn’t easy.  He really had to work at it.

BTW: “Equoid” by Charlie Stross….

…was very good, if more than a little meta.  It is a very odd thing to read a Cthulhu Mythos novella (this is, in fact, part of Stross’s Laundry series) where the main character rips HP Lovecraft a new one for being, well, HP Lovecraft. Still, a fun read*: Charlie Stross even manages to get his usual reflexive British Leftism more or less under control for most of the the narrative…

Moe Lane

*If ‘fun’ for you includes all the cosmic horror implied by… erm. No spoilers, but it’s going to get really gruesome, particularly if you know something of HPL’s psycho-sexual hangups.

And the #shutdown ends on a somewhat disquieting ritual note.

With a stenographer screaming about Masonic conspiracies.

Minutes before the House finished voting for the Senate compromise, a stenographer was pulled out of the chamber while yelling about conspiracies. A few people physically removed her from the chamber and took her to an adjacent elevator. She continued to yell. They were followed by a crowd of reporters and members of Congress, including Representatives Al Green (D., Texas) and Louie Gohmert (R., Texas). It took a few moments for the elevator doors to open, so the people who removed her from the chamber held her against the elevator as she yelled.

This is what I recorded of her yelling: “This is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been, it would not have been – no – it would not have been – the Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons! They go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise Jesus [recording unclear]. Lord Jesus Christ!”

Continue reading And the #shutdown ends on a somewhat disquieting ritual note.

Some free advice for liberals and progressives. No, really. #obamacare

I offer it because I know none of them will take it, so here goes: the Left thinks it has a love affair with technocracy.  What it actually has is an intensely dysfunctional relationship that involves lit cigarette ends. Stuff like this…

The federal agency in charge of the exchanges signed agreements this summer with several e-brokers to sell health plans in the 36 states where the feds are running the new individual marketplaces. But the online brokers, eager to tap a new market of people who’ll qualify for federal subsidies, learned shortly before the Oct. 1 launch that they wouldn’t be able to offer exchange plans right away.

The brokers say the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services didn’t act fast enough to let them integrate their websites with the IT systems supporting the federal insurance marketplaces. They hope to get everything linked up with the feds in the coming weeks.

Continue reading Some free advice for liberals and progressives. No, really. #obamacare