Author: bmagnus

Wacky Democrats

So today I received a “One question poll” on which Democratic accomplishments make me the most proud. Let’s examine these a little more closely.

Health Care Reform: You mean Romneycare 2.0? I concede that Obamacare is an improvement over what we had. However, it still “fixes” the problem by forcing us to do business with the very profitable corporations that got us into this mess. I’d feel better if there were a public option. I’d feel a lot better if there were some concession that kids can’t control coverage: they don’t have employers to provide it and they don’t have a way to make their parents able to afford coverage. Don’t tell me this can’t be fixed, because Howard Dean DID. By the way, it’s not in any way health care reform, but rather health care insurance reform.

60 Straight Months of Private Job Sector Growth: Tell that to JP. If the there’s so much job growth, how come there’s no wage growth? How come Forbes has to promise it will start any minute now? How come underemployment is such a huge problem?

Rescuing the Auto Industry: Yeah, I guess they did that. Of course the corner that used to have a HUUUUGE Chevy dealer in town is now a vacant lot.

Reforming Wall Street: Big reform. Now the bankers have to be more careful how they screw you. Too Big To Fail still exists, banks still only follow their own rules, very few corporate criminals have ever even been charged let alone convicted, and the attempts to water down an already watered down law continue.

Historic Action on Climate Change: Really? Activists had to work too hard to kill Keystone XL, the gas industry still markets itself as “clean,” and we’re all excited about a “target“?

Expanding Equality: I have not the faintest idea what they’re talking about.

So six items, all but one done at best halfway. I am not proud at all.

In closing: my mom would have liked that manager; still an awful idea; not all ideas are equal.

“Did you see that ludicrous display last night?”

Wouldn’t it be nice if the networks would set their science fiction shows in the near future, so it’s obvious the science is made up?

Ok, I confess I watched the premiere of CSI Cyber last night. I also confess that I was expecting to watch for the heckling value.

csicyber

 

 

About the only things I’m willing to believe about the show are a) the FBI has (or should have) a cyber crimes division b) it’s possible to develop a code analysis tool that puts the bad stuff in red. Oh, and a Toyota Camry can’t float. Please note that although they lamented the fact that “it would take too long to brute force that long password (so obviously we feds just have to be able to bypass things things, you know, for the children),” they had a team member who used logic to figure it out. Also note that the existence of a back door in another system is what allowed the original crime to happen.

Also, ask yourself why you need your babycam (among other things) to be on the internet.

In Closing: most kids aren’t whisked away by strangers, no matter what you might see on TV; guess how many terrorists the NSA “collect all the calls” program has caught? ZERO.

Music Monday: A Night at the Symphony

This is probably my favorite full symphony composition of all time. And that’s saying something from a lady who loves her some Wolfgang Amadeus (yeah yeah and props to Ludwig Van).

In Closing: some more NSA and privacy follies; student loans; crude; illustration of double standard; embarrassing coincidence; lost Sherlock Holmes story; malls have always been an easy target and I’m not sure why this is news (oh but if you had to go through a TSA checkpoint to go shopping I bet Americans would say enough); a shocking misunderstanding of anatomy; because ads will surely cure you; and amusing alteration of signage.

Where is my motivation?

Since getting home from Texas last week, I’ve had a hard time getting motivated to write anything. I promise to get back on track soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some NSA and spying on Americans links, on the Post Office, our Vice President getting cheeky, crows solving problems, stuff I have been saying for years, sex workers, Mustangs, resume tips, a good point about antibiotic resistance, reverse Robin Hood, and many thanks to Comrade Misfit for introducing me to Wednesday.

So much for the right to a speedy trial

As our elected officials continue to do almost nothing that solves any real problems (and propose many things that pretend to solve problems both made up and real), I’d like to point out something about the immigration “reform” debate: the people who are trying to get their status normalized are being told they might get a court date in 2019.

Now, take a look at your calendar. Says 2015, right? So that’s 4 years from now. It’s also one Presidential election and two Congressional elections from now, so who can really say what the rules will be when today’s immigrants finally get their days in court.

Gee, it’s almost like the Powers That Be like the fact that there’s an easily exploited underclass of illegal workers!