Month: April 2015

Koch Industries does its part for penal reform.

Via @scottlincicome comes this news about those horrible, horrible people at Koch Industries: “Koch Industries, one of the nation’s largest private companies, has removed questions about prior criminal convictions from its job applications, becoming the latest corporation to join a burgeoning movement trying to make it easier for ex-offenders to find work.” …Huh. That doesn’t sound horrible at all. Continue reading Koch Industries does its part for penal reform.

It’s Official: Crypto-Commie Senator Bernie Sanders is running for President.

Continue reading It’s Official: Crypto-Commie Senator Bernie Sanders is running for President.

…Was it the intent of Team Hillary to make her logo look like a sexual act?

I am going to score this new logo from Hillary Clinton* as being a rather significant design FAIL. Normally, I would not presume to do so; but normally I’m not given this kind of provocation. Good luck not seeing this now, sorry: and I apologize in advance for the, er, adult content of this observation. Consider yourself warned to stop reading now if you’re squeamish about this sort of thing:

Continue reading …Was it the intent of Team Hillary to make her logo look like a sexual act?

Book of the Week: “The Complete McAuslan.”

I am always finding books that I cannot believe that I have not yet recommended for Book of the Week yet… which is good, right? Means that I’m not about to run out yet.  Well, this week’s is The Complete McAuslan, by George MacDonald Fraser. It’s the full collection of Fraser’s short stories – very lightly fictionalized – about a certain British junior officer’s time in service just after World War II: an officer who is not named McAuslan.  No, Private McAuslan is his nemesis, or albatross, or curse, or… just read the stories, all right? You’ll howl with laughter, hopefully.  Fair warning, though: the most absurd stuff?  Probably all happened.  That’s how these things go. Continue reading Book of the Week: “The Complete McAuslan.”

@LizMair invokes the power of the Fishbowl.

The Fishbowl is what I call an artifact of what Neal Stephenson called the Age of Scrutiny: basically, it’s the world that we live in now. Which is a world where you have to simply assume that somebody is now, or will be, watching everything that you’re doing. It’s a perilous world, to be sure: but at least you’re never alone, right? Anyway, here’s Liz explaining how life sucks for politicians now:

It was, to put it mildly, not helpful in the 2004 election for a candidate (Kerry) to have taken multiple different positions on matters concerning the Iraq War. It was not okay in the 2008 cycle to suddenly play the civil libertarian after contrary votes, to position as somehow anti-Iraq War when you voted for it and wouldn’t apologize (see Clinton, Hillary). It was not tenable to claim to be a hardcore social conservative after prior pro-gay positioning and pro-choice status, nor to claim anti-comprehensive immigration reform credentials that did not previously exist (see Romney, Willard Mitt). It certainly isn’t going to be credible or plausible for any candidates this cycle to attempt equivalent contortionism while simultaneously pretending to be oh-so-sincere this time around. Yet we already see them doing it, and doing it badly.

Continue reading @LizMair invokes the power of the Fishbowl.

Tweet of the Day, Larry Hogan Needs To Step Up edition.

Although I will concede that what Gov. Larry Hogan needs to do here is open for debate.

I don’t expect anything out of new-minted Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and I expect that I will get precisely that (yes, a tautology, but you know what I mean). But Gov. Hogan currently has to deal with the largest city in his state sliding out of control. As a Marylander myself, I’m quite interested to hear what he plans to do about it.