August 8, 2016

I'm officially astonished.

I was idly browsing for info about the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (no, I'm not planning on buying one, but it is one of the iconic cars of my youth), and I see they are being auctioned at eBay for 7000 USD. Good grief, I know they're 50 years old, but that is some price for a Roller.

One was selling for even less, but it had "been left outside for about a year" and was in bad condition. What kind of foul miscreant would leave a Rolls-Royce sit outside for a year?

-- Mal

August 5, 2016

What we're up against

I'm going to violate protocol and re-post a pro-Trump screed that one of my RW cousins sent me. The reason is to hear, from the virtual lips of a Trump supporter, exactly why they are behind him.

"Ok people, soap box moment.........
Millions of trump supporters feel this way about Donald J. Trump....."We don't care if the guy swears... or how many times he's been married...or who he voted for, or what his income tax return shows. We want the problems fixed. Yes he's an egomaniac, but we don't care. We know he's not a racist, or bad to women, or all the other things the liberal media is trying to label him with. We know he's raised a good family, and that says a lot about him.
The country is a mess because politicians suck, the Republican Party is two faced & gutless, and illegals are everywhere and Muslims are openly trying to hurt this country and make the civilized world adjust to them. We want it all fixed!
We don't care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he has changed positions, we don't care that he fights with Megan Kelly, Rosie O'Donnell, and so many of the elected establishment. We don't care that Rubio, Cruz, Ryan, the Bush's, and so many other top old and new Republicans refuse to endorse him for their own selfish reasons, and we know what they are. We don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslim terrorists, we don't care that he tried some businesses that didn't work out.
This country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegals, we are becoming a nation of victims, where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don't even recognize the country we were born and raised in, AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED. And TRUMP is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want.
We're sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic and Republican Party. We're angry about the Iran deal, the budget, treatment of Israel, military weakness, lobbyists, special interests, overpaid politicians with their self serving bills and back room deals, trade deals, loss of jobs, manipulated economic numbers, businesses fleeing, and even the phoney pay for play Clinton Foundation.
Americans are no longer going to be fooled, and the movement is out to change the direction we're taking. Trump may not be a saint, but he doesn't have lobbyist money holding him, he doesn't have political correctness restraining him, and all you know is that he has been very successful, a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, he's flexible, and he's also not a politician. And he says he'll fix it. And we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong or looked at and called a liar.
Public service has become elected greed. This may be our only chance to have a non-politician, despite his flaws, try and correct the mess, at least for 4 years. We must take the shot, because the consequences of putting Hillary Clinton in office are frightening. There is a tidal wave happening, and its going to overcome much of what's happened to this country."


I don't blame you if you can't make it through the whole thing, so here are the high points (I use the term loosely): yes, we know Donald Trump is a cretin, and we don't care, because he is the only cretin who listens to us and he promises to make things better.

That, in a nutshell, is why people are supporting Mr Trump, as a few savvy analysts have been telling us for some time.

I find it interesting that the author says Mr Trump will succeed in his promises because he is too much of an egomaniac to fail. I believe that is the first time I've seen that particular "argument."

This rant suggests that tactics based on demonstrating that Mr Trump is a cretin will not sway his supporters, who know it already. It also illustrates the frustration with "political correctness" which "make the civilized world adjust to them." I think this is a key to understanding the attitude of many of the privileged, or even of Christians or straight folk: they are being "forced to adjust." Mr Trump, then, appears to give them hope that they need not adjust.

-- Mal

July 26, 2016

We should start calling the GOP nominee "Comrade Trump."

He likes those pithy little nicknames, and tarring him with the Commie brush might actually make give some of his more rabid RW supporters pause.

-- Mal

July 24, 2016

Prescott Bush Interview, 1953

Stumbled across this vid on YT and thought it might be of interest.

Interesting that Mr Bush argues that accepting refugees from Eastern Europe was a victory in the Cold War.

-- Mal

July 20, 2016

Chronicles of Amber TV adaptatation planned:

Story here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-creator-adapting-chronicles-912132


Whenever I hear that Hollywood is going to "adapt" something, I wonder how they're going to ruin it. And Roger's not around to keep them in line. But I'm sure it will be entertaining.

-- Mal

July 16, 2016

Just an innocent little song about dairy products

-- Mal

July 10, 2016

The American Flag Shoulder Patch

A question that only afflicts people like me with OCD and too much time on their hands. When did the U.S. Military begin displaying the U.S. flag shoulder patch with the Union field in the upper right to the observer (to indicate the troops "always moving forward," it sez here) rather than with the Union in the upper left (as is set forth in any set of rules for display of the flag). I know it was the latter during Vietnam and before, but it seems to have changed circa 1990. Anybody know offhand when the regulation changed, and what, if any, was the rationale?

-- Mal

July 10, 2016

Well, that proves there are trolls here.

I suppose this is Meta, but I just discovered that the tales I have heard about agitators signing up to DU to intentionally spread filth are true. I'm rather more tolerant than most here at DU (which is not necessarily a virtue), so I will put up with a lot of posts that many people would alert on in an instant. I have issued one alert in the past, when a poster restarted his thread that had already been locked, but I mostly ignore name-calling and invective, particularly if it happens to be directed at me (sticks and stones, y'know).

But when someone posts, as his first ever post to DU, the statement "black males should be shot down like the animals they are, it's not like they're worth anything anyway," (no sarcasm indication) I think one might reasonably conclude that a line has been crossed. Certainly a violation of the ToS, anyway.

Why anyone would waste his time with such conduct is a mystery to me.

-- Mal

July 9, 2016

Donald Trump: riding the tiger

How much of Mr Trump is schtick, and how much reality? The $64 question, and I have not completely satisfied myself on that point. But a successful con man -- and Mr Trump is certainly that -- must have some native intelligence, or at least shrewd cunning (and a low opinion of his fellow man). My instinct is that he is not fully in control of what is happening, that he is riding opportunity as far and fast as he can, at least in part because he doesn't know how to dismount the tiger. He keeps pushing the envelope farther and farther, as if he is asking the country how long he can keep on being so outrageous, how far he can go. I don't feel (I use the term advisedly, I have insufficient evidence to make a satisfactory determination) that things have gone exactly as he intended, in terms of specifics: he wanted the glory and the adulation, but didn't want to be threatened with actually having to make good on his act. I still don't think he really wants the job, but he has in a manner of speaking painted himself into a corner, unless the GOP does initiate a coup and precipitate a constitutional crisis.

He reminds me a bit of an author who said in his bio he wanted to be a writer, then immediately corrected himself: what he wanted was to have written. All the benefits, in other words, with none of the work. And he reminds me of certain other politicians who have pushed inflammatory rhetoric to absurd extremes, and then are horrified when they have to live up to it. This sort of thing has led to more than one war.

Scary either way, because he has tapped into a deep well of rage and fear, and by expressing it, validated it and given the crazies the knowledge that they aren't alone, them and their little militia buddies. And of course, other opportunistic politicians are now more inspired to tap into this wellspring, although it is to the credit (sort of) of many that even they won't stoop so low. In the end, the message matters more than the man, and that message is not without peril to the security of the nation. I have always believed the RW nuts were too cowardly to start anything serious, but the knowledge of their numbers may inspire some intemperate acts down the road. And if Mrs Clinton is elected president, which still seems to be the likely result, will the monster go back to sleep, or will it resort to those 2nd Amendment solutions the more fanatical make noise about? We may doubt that outcome, but I don't think we can disregard it out of hand.

-- Mal

June 28, 2016

Posner's trolling the Court again:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_breakfast_table/features/2016/supreme_court_breakfast_table_for_june_2016/law_school_professors_need_more_practical_experience.html

The excerpt that is raising eyebrows:

I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation (across the centuries—well, just a little more than two centuries, and of course less for many of the amendments). Eighteenth-century guys, however smart, could not foresee the culture, technology, etc., of the 21st century.

It is humorous how many comments attribute this statement to a "lefty" bias.

-- Mal