Music Monday: The Boss Has Spoken

Ladies and gentlemen, the unvarnished truth:

 

The economy is crap unless you are ridiculously wealthy. And even then, you might have the sense that something is amiss. It is no longer possible to just work a little harder and get out of this mess. Four out of five Americans “struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives.” An alarming number of families spend over half their income on housing, with many still paying far too much on property that will never be worth what is owed — property that traps them in places where jobs might not exist. And that’s before I get to 35 facts that should scare Baby Boomers.

Follow up: Be careful hiking in areas that have recently experienced forest fires.

In Closing: on human trafficking; seriously??; some more stuff on the NSA (contact your Congressmouse and Senatwhores and remind them that you vote); MSRA; don’t say stupid stuff in job interviews; and Farewell Lindy.

Over 95% Bums and Idiots

I’m more than a little peeved at Washington today.

Let’s start with the reply I got from Senator Reid regarding NSA spying programs, including this paragraph:

These surveillance authorities are important tools for the counterterrorism officials working to dismantle foreign terrorist networks and keep America safe. These authorities have played a vital role in helping the U.S. Government identify and disrupt terrorist plots, and have helped our Intelligence Community better understand the nature and extent of terrorist networks. However, I share your concerns about ensuring transparency and protecting the privacy and civil liberties of law-abiding Americans as our government uses these expansive tools. I have strongly supported efforts to strengthen oversight and disclosure requirements as we have periodically reauthorized these surveillance authorities.

Really, Harry? Are you sure about that? If these programs are so successful, how come they can’t trot out some captured terrorists? The other day, the NSA said they can’t actually search through the “Centuries of Data” they are prepared to collect. Now which is it? “This is a vital program that helps us find and catch bad guys,” or “I dunno, it’s in here somewhere”?

The nicest thing I can say about having voted for you, Harry, is that you were more sane than your opponent. Don’t make me regret that, Senator.

Remember that the Amash amendment failed bipartisanly. That means the RepubliCANTS and DemocRATS are equally in favor of letting the spies violate your rights under the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments all they like.

Speaking of bipartisan idiocy, why won’t Steve King just shut up? Bad enough he wants to compare immigration to choosing “a pretty good bird dog” and can’t understand why anybody thinks that’s offensive. Now he’s doubled down with talk about how most immigrants are drug smugglers with calves the size of cantaloupes. Steve, sweetie, when even Mr. Boehner thinks your remarks are  hateful and ignorant, they probably are.

Remember that an immigration “reform” plan that doesn’t include a way for undocumented workers to eventually become citizens is saying “We like having easily exploited, illegal workers in this nation.” See also, the truth about guest workers, and why unemployment is “down.”

And now there’s serious talk about making Larry Summers the Fed chair? Oh please.

Are there more than a handful of intelligent elected officials who aren’t owned by special interests in all of Washington DC? Who the heck am I supposed to vote for when all my choices are idiots, nutcases, liars, hopelessly out of touch, paid to do as they are told, openly against my interests, and/or quietly working against my interests while telling me it’s for my own good? Jon Porter was a Republican, but at least he had the guts to tell me “I respect your opinion but I disagree because….” on multiple occasions.

In Closing: Thanks for saving Ohio the expense of a heavily publicized trial; some of the smartest stuff I’ve read about Detroit; why yes, I find it convenient to be alive.

Senseless Tragedy

Time: Sunday, July 21, roughly 7:30 AM

Place: Driving on US Hwy 95, headed north out of Las Vegas and towards Mount Charleston

This is a summary of the conversation and not a verbatim transcript.

Me: I sure am glad the Carpenter 1 fire is under control.

Him: Well, only 95% under control, but they can’t get to where it is and it can’t get out either. I wonder if we are going to see any burned areas.

Me: I don’t think so. It jumped Kyle Canyon Road, but it never got as far as Lee Canyon Road.

Him: It’s going to take a long time to get back to normal. Mary Jane Falls is probably going to be closed for months.

Me: What about Cathedral Rock? I heard the fire got very close.

Him: Yeah, that too. But Mary Jane Falls is a better hike. Harder, and very rocky, but worth it.

Me: So I was watching the news the other day. They were pointing out that up on the mountain, you should be careful in burned areas because trees might fall and ash might cover places you could fall.

Him: Yeah, we were told that in the meeting Friday too.

Time: Monday, July 22, roughly 9 PM

Place: Mary Jane Falls

A hikernot the gentleman in the first part of our story — is stranded on a cliff. The only way to rescue him is by helicopter. In the process, a police officer from an elite search and rescue team falls to his death.

Aftermath

I wasn’t going to cover this as it is mostly “local interest,” but CNN thought it was newsworthy so here we are.

There are a lot of great places to hike around the Las Vegas Valley, and Mount Charleston is a favorite in the middle of summer because it’s substantially cooler up there. In the winter, there is even skiing.

So the short version. This hiker knew or should have known the following:

  • Mary Jane Falls is a tough hike in good conditions, and conditions were not good.
  • It was well publicized that thanks to the recent forest fire, hikers need to be extra vigilant about hazards on the trails.
  • It turns out my companion was mistaken and the trail was open, but extra caution was still in order. I had been going to make a rather tasteless joke about how, like the character in Clerks, he shouldn’t even have been there.
  • I am going to assume the hiker started during daylight, because it would have been incredibly stupid to hike potentially dangerous terrain with an awesome view at night.

Go ahead and come hike around Las Vegas. But for pity sake, use your head. Don’t be like this guy, who got a cop killed rescuing him.

In Closing: Nate Silver; interpreting stats on research papers; read it all before letting your knee get all jerky; glad somebody in the administration has balls; and yoga with cats.

Music Monday: Christmas in July

Ok, this is not actually the track I wanted. Brave Combo is a North Texas based band with a following in Japan. A while back they did a Christmas album. As the story goes:

We never considered recording a Christmas album before. Everyone had already heard most of the famous songs enough for a lifetime and the challenge to make them fresh would be immense. Plus, Brave Combo walks a pretty thin line between novelty and serious anyway. A Christmas album would just never have Crossed our minds. However, in early 1991, during our second trip to Japan, a man from P-Vine Records asked us if we would be interested in the idea. “What, an album of Japanese Christmas music?” I asked. “No, there are no Japanese Christmas songs,” he replied, which meant to me that he wanted an album of standard melodies and songs that Americans hear and sing every winter. It seems that Christmas is a big holiday in Japan as well, stripped of all religious significance: a time of indulgent buying and gift-giving (a Japanese art) when Jesus Christ is acknowledged, but no more important an icon than Frosty, the Snowman. The idea was definitely interesting. We could choose a bunch of our favorite Christmas songs, mutate them into new shapes and release them in Japan only. Plus P-Vine had big plans. They would re-release it every year and perhaps it would become a classic. If the album came out too corny for jaded western ears, it wouldn’t matter. No one in the U.S. would even have to know about it.

So I had hoped to post their track “Christmas in July,” but it’s just not out there as far as I can tell.

In Closing: race relations; common sense on Social Security; eggs; on our shrinking freedoms; some good news for a change; and “Tiny Rat Cocktail Parties.”

Being Angry at a Black Guy is Not a License to Kill

Maybe there wasn’t justice in Florida. However, Wisconsin is another story.

Last year, an angry old white man decided that the people who had broken into his house had to be the black boys that lived next door, despite the fact that his security cameras showed two different black men who had happened to come from that direction and the fact that the police didn’t have enough evidence to arrest anybody. So he did what seemed right to him. He went and killed the 13 year old boy:

Spooner’s surveillance video provides a clear view of what happened. Spooner emerges from his house and confronts the teen, who is retrieving his family’s garbage cart from the street. Spooner points a gun at Darius, who moves back a few steps. Spooner then exchanges words with Darius’ mother, who’s standing on her porch out of view of the camera, and Spooner briefly points the gun in her direction. Moments later, Spooner points the gun back at the boy standing a couple of feet in front of him. He fires, hitting Darius in the chest.

The teen stumbles and runs away, and Spooner fires a second shot that misses. He appears to attempt a third shot, but the gun jams.

Darius’ mother, Patricia Larry, testified that she chased her son to where he collapsed in the street. She cradled him in her arms as he died.

You are welcome to watch the snuff film surveillance video here. The angry old white man still considers this “justice,” and admitted on the witness stand that if he had a clear shot, he would have killed the boy’s 18 year old brother too!  Finally, when asked how he felt about it, his answer was “Not that bad.”

Seriously? Killed a human being who wasn’t threatening you, wasn’t threatening your family, who might have stolen something from you, and you feel “not that bad” about it? Wow. What a guy.

So the case in court came down to two things: did the angry old white man intend to kill the boy, and was he sane at the time?

I am not an expert in gun safety, but I do know that one of the top gun safety rules out there is “Never point a gun at something you don’t intend to destroy.” Anybody who didn’t grow up in a Warner Brother cartoon knows that if someone is shot in the chest from a few feet away, they will probably die. Therefore I am forced to assume that he meant to “destroy” that kid. So intent? Check!

As for sanity, it really only mattered here for what his final destination was: prison or mental hospital. Most of us don’t want gun-waving angry old men in our neighborhoods. Nevertheless, another one of those gun safety rules? “Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.” By golly, he followed that one! That would tend to support the idea that he was sane at the time. Sanity? Check!

You will not be surprised to find that a jury figured the same thing. Now, he will probably live the rest of his life in prison.

Of course none of this brings that boy back. Thoughts of peace for his family.

In Closing: Just an assortment of NSA, Snowden, spying on Americans, blah blah links (can somebody please explain how this stuff can possibly be legal under the 4th Amendment??); Her Majesty; joblessrecovery“; Antarctica; and oops, somebody accidentally said the truth out loud.

Or, you know, we could “Just Say No”

Yesterday, USA Today published a delightful piece of “journalism” on car buying called “Tips to avoid car dash systems that’ll drive you crazy.” The second paragraph makes the following observation:

The best of the systems reduce distraction. They make driving easier and more pleasant. The worst can infuriate customers and devastate an automaker’s reputation.

No kidding. Glad somebody got paid to write those 3 sentences.

What’s interesting is that just last week, I read this commentary on a Bloomberg item that can briefly be summarized:

A $1500 or more device added to a car that (1) has out-dated maps the day it’s released, (2) if it can be updated at all costs a fortune to do so on a regular basis, (3) is slow, buggy and frankly has a user interface designed by Frankenstein?

You’re surprised that people buy a $20 suction cup or airvent clip and use their phone instead?

Where the hell have you been?

I know a man who swore a year ago that he would never again own a car with any sort of touch screen device in it — not even the radio! He correctly pointed out that it was a distraction to reach over and do anything on such hardware. However, Detroit has decided to channel Rhett Butler and frankly, not give a damn. You’ll have that hardware in your car and you’ll like it! I’m not willing to go so far as to agree with Mr. Denninger and speculate that “I’m sure the NSA finds this not only interesting but an actual goal.  Remember, if you never do anything wrong (like visit a hooker, smoke a joint, have one too many beers, etc) then you don’t care if big government knows literally every single thing you do — right?”

Look. I don’t need a lot out of that thing in the middle of my dashboard. It should play music, either via radio, CD, or from MP3s on my phone. I have grown to like bluetooth integration on my phone, but it must be absolutely painless and stay synced properly. I don’t need it to give me directions: I have a smart phone, a map book, and a functional brain, thanks. I don’t need to give it voice commands: my aforementioned smart phone takes voice commands quite well, I can pull over to make a call when needed, and I often have a co-pilot who can dial. And the device absolutely must have physical buttons that always exist in the same location when I need them. I can’t imagine why it hasn’t occurred to anybody in Detroit that looking to the console to see where the appropriate button is could be, you know, dangerous. But then, these are the guys who can’t imagine why you would put the car in park and not want every single door to unlock.

Don’t give me a fast ration about how I will learn to love the additional features I don’t need. Please, I managed 5 years as a Realtor without any damnable navigation system telling me when to turn left.

So next time I buy a car — which will hopefully be years from now — I will do the Nancy Reagan and Just Say No to expensive features I just don’t want or need.

Music Monday: For Trayvon

 

After this I hope to shut up forever about Trayvon Martin and/or George Zimmerman. In the meantime, here’s some of the better things that I have recently read. I particularly like this one, since it supports my position that a hip carry law would be preferable to concealed carry (Trayvon and any normal person would have run from a man with a gun on his hip!). Oh, and if you don’t think race was a factor, get your head out of the ground.

In Closing: yet more about spying on Americans and others; on the economy; and top secret vacuum cleaner.

 

“Oh No, Say It Ain’t So, Joe”

B000444Today, I got a letter from Joe Biden. I was kind of excited when I saw it. He asked about my family and how my classes were going… No, not really. He wanted money for the DSCC, “the only organization solely dedicated to electing and reelecting Democrats to the Senate.”

So in short, here’s my reply: Sure, Joe, do you want me to make that check out to Democracy for America or MoveOn? Because the DNC, DSCC, DNCC, and other ‘official’ Democratic groups aren’t getting any more of my money until you start representing my interests!

Want my money? Well Joe, you’re the head of the Senate. Make those idiots actually stand up and talk when they threaten filibuster. You don’t need Harry Reid’s permission to do that, do you?

Here’s another place you can start: Throw some support behind Senator Warren’s bill to revive Glass-Steagal! Heck, Sandy Weill said almost exactly a year ago that it needed to be done, and he was the guy who forced the Feds to repeal it. Funny how we didn’t have a financial catastrophe in the decades it was law. You don’t suppose….?

Maybe you could personally use some of your “pull” in the administration to at least slow down the mad acceleration towards a police state. For example, if we stop spying on citizens, then we have noting to fear from guys like Anonymous or Ed Snowden (btw, you do know that trying to prevent him seeking asylum is kinda a violation of international law?). Another example, maybe get the “Justice” Department to back of marijuana prosecutions in places where voters have decriminalized it? Instead, maybe “Justice” could start prosecuting employers who hire undocumented workers, often violating other labor laws in the process? You don’t even have to pass an immigration “reform” bill to do that! We do have millions of Americans out of work who — assuming those jobs actually pay a living wage (yeah ha I know right?) — might like to have those jobs.

Speaking of “reform” bills, Joe, I would like to register my disappointment once again in the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” Ok, yes, probably better than nothing. Yes, thanks for the no-deductible birth control pills. However, the solution to soaring prices for health insurance was mandatory health insurance with no public option: forcing us to pay up to the profitable companies that got us into this mess. Let me recycle some links from the other day on that, and an ancient post. That’s like doubling down on a pair of deuces. This one is easy enough to fix if you can find the political will: support Alan Grayson’s “Buy into Medicare” plan. What was it you heard when you guys were trying to ram ACA through? “No socialized medicine, and don’t touch my Medicare?” I bet Medicare’s cost per person would go down if young, healthy people were allowed to enroll!

You official Democrats have disappointed me on these issues as well as student loan reform, environmental issues, the farm bill, the Sequester, failing to let the Bush tax cuts lapse, failing to close Gitmo, not even trying to fix the problems the Supreme Court found in the Voting Rights Act or Citizens United, and so many other things I just can’t keep track of them all anymore.

I’ll probably still keep voting for you guys, because I don’t really see that the other party is going to run anyone I can vote for without self-loathing.

But don’t count on my check.

In Closing: Malala is back, and she has a posse!; and didn’t Trayvon also have the right to stand his ground? After all, some strange guy with a gun was following him home!

No Shortie Lives

Ok, just so you know, air quality in Vegas is absolutely awful today because of the massive fire on Mount Charleston. This also means that Vegas’s favorite get-out-of-the-heat spot is closed. So on with the Shorties.

A Few Words on Abortion: Don’t want one? Don’t have one. Don’t think others should have them? Support birth control or admit that what you’re really against is sluts having sex.

Insurance Companies Fixing Things: Heh, Kansas’s plan to let teachers carry guns has effectively been nixed by the insurance company. It makes me wonder if SWAT team tactics might not be fixed by enough insurance claims. Turns out Allstate and those guys have lots of lawyers on the payroll….

Always Low Wages: Walmart threatens to leave DC if they are forced to pay a living wage. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Speaking of Wages and the Mood of the American People: liberty vs security, where’s the outrage, I’m not sure it’s capitalism to blame.

On Health Insurance Reform: “The politicians’ consensus is that health care reform shouldn’t alter or disrupt the way the majority of Americans get their insurance today…. The policy consensus, though, is that the status quo is actually the problem and that it deserves to be threatened, undermined and replaced as expeditiously as possible.” Further, it turns out that when real people are forced to hold their noses and select coverage, they choose the plan that costs the least every paycheck and still pray they don’t get sick because the coverage sucks. I concede that means I was wrong about where cash-pay clinics are headed; we’re gonna need more, not less.

How about Lowering the Danger, then?: Pentagon wants to cut danger pay.

On the Millenials: Matt Bors. Thank heaven we have a better name for them than “Generation Y”.

Miscellany: Banks, Choirs, Sinners, Poor Little Pageant QueenCats, Planes, and freakin hipsters.