- The title says “How Half of America Lost Its F*cking Mind.” That’s not what the author say. The author says rural Americans have been abused to the point where Trump looks like their savior and they’re understandably, righteously pissed at political business as usual.
- Hillary’s views on cybersecurity are not only dumb and evil. They’re impossible, as even some of her advisors clearly understood. Can’t have super-security plus nice backdoors that only the “good guys” — that is, Hillary’s friends — can walk through. But not to worry! Hillary! Has the Experience! We Need! To become our dictator.
- How one itty-bitty Nebraska town v*ted itself out of existence. (H/T MJR) Meanwhile, in Spain, Spaniards are quite unflapped at having gone nearly a year without an “official” government.
- A little weird, but bear with it: “The Barrett Brown Review of Arts and Letters and Prison.” (Or, if you’re another journalist who gets sent to prison, learn something about role-playing games.)
- You already thought it was bad in Venezuela? Here’s a man who claims his imprisoned son was eaten during a prison riot. Apparently witnesses back him up. Apparently this is not the first time human flesh was consumed in that particular prison.
- And speaking of humans being consumed … here’s yet another learned discourse on the problem of the ever-consuming administrative state. So many have stated the problem so well! So exactly zero have come up with workable solutions short of lining a lot of bastards up against a wall. The author of this one, Peter J. Walliston, concludes (I paraphrase) that only the Nazgul can put a stop to bureaucratic overreach, except that they probably won’t. Well. That was helpful.
- Photoshop battle #1: The overexcited frog. Photoshop battle #2: Keanu and friend. Photoshop battle #3: Derpy dog. Enjoy. 🙂
“How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind…..
I have found that a lot of people really don’t have a problem with a dictator as long as the dictator is one of who they think is theirs.
“How Half of America Lost Its F*cking Mind.”
But which half of the people, city folk or country folk, does the title apply to?
The town of Center Point, here in the county where I live, has unincorporated itself at least three times, first in 1889, then back in 1913 and more recently in the mid-1990s.
The third time some of the townspeople thought that the town’s septic tanks needed to be replaced by a central sewer system, so they incorporated, elected a city council, and got Center Point declared a colonia to qualify for a grant. A majority of the residents disagreed, particularly pissed off with the insult of being considered a colonia, and forced a ballot measure to unincorporate. There wasn’t near as much acrimony as in Seneca, however.
Center Point has grown in the 20 years since then. Diehards have died off and been replaced with more artsy/crafty types. So Kerr County is overseeing the construction of a central system tied in to an existing treatment plant.
And there’s a “Citizens Majority” group (as far as I can tell with a couple of dozen members) opposing the project.
The more things change…
•Hillary’s views on cybersecurity are the same as her views on everything else. Things will work the way she thinks they should work.
More good links. Barrett Brown makes a case for being adaptive.
Only began, then scanned the Williston piece – well and good but preaches to the choir. Nazgul has been, and is more becoming, the stamp of approval.
And LarryA – What is “colonia”, and can I declare myself that and get a fat grant?
(Long as it isn’t some walking disease…)
“Colonias” originated in Texas border counties. A developer would buy a section of land and carve it into small residential lots. Usually unpaved streets. No sewer. Commonly, a well or two and half-inch pipe along the streets, with hydrants here and there. Electricity and telephone, usually installed either at low cost to the developer or even as freebies.
Long-term, high-price deals on the lots.
So, travel trailers and small mobile homes. Outhouses; tote water from the faucets.
Breeding grounds for disease and crime. Located mostly around El Paso and way downriver in the lower Rio Grande valley.
A fair amount of correctness in Wong’s commentary. But not all Trumpies are in the Reds; many working Blue folks as well. And many Hillaryites don’t seem to realize that WashDC’s business-as-usual is screwing them as well as rural people.
Basically, whatever Trump says or thinks is irrelevant. He’s a symbol of disgust at business as usual. The only thing that I see as worthwhile is that he’s not in love with NATO and isn’t wanting a war with Russia. But that’s easily more than enough, right there, IMO.
What Wong doesn’t see is that many of the city ideas and Left Coast ideas have contributed greatly to the mess we’re in.
Thanks for that window on a word Desertrat.
The crap with provoking Russia seems insane. They have been invaded by Sweden, France, Germany, and Germany again. I wonder if they get paranoid? But hell, what empire type wants to trade with them thinking they can rule instead?
I wonder what became of the horses in question. At what point does animal mistreatment become cause for intervention? And, couldn’t something be accomplished without resorting to the ban hammer?
Meanwhile, here’s a motivational poster
I think the Seneca story and the Cracked story have a common theme (if you’re going to push me out, I’m going to burn it down). Radiolab did a piece on the Seneca story that speaks to both sides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY3u3bX2xNo