“If Social Security checks don’t go out on August 3, it’s just old people. You know how they are. They’re just gonna blow that money on medicine and hips.” – Jon Stewart
August 3, 2011 – potential quote of the moment, Social Security
July 20, 2011
6 Comments | 
Humor, Politics, Social Security | Tagged: Humor, Politics, Social Security | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Drive-by Christian Broadcasting Network School of Law for Government Infiltration
July 18, 2011Do we need to add anything?
1,929 views when posted here.
Leave a Comment » | Humor, Politics, Video and film | Tagged: Humor, Michelle Bachmann, Politics, video | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Bathtub reading for a broiling July
July 18, 2011Make that a cold bath. It hit 107° F here Friday. 15th consecutive 100°-plus day? 17th? 200th?
Birds refuse to bathe in the bird bath — they’re saving it to drink. The sprinkler system misfired yesterday — had to kill the power to fix a kitchen light and the clock on the sprinkler got a few hours off — and we were alerted by dozens of bluejays broadcasting the news. “Water!” they screamed. Dallas isn’t supposed to be home to robins, but there were three of them dancing on the wet sidewalk with the jays, plus assorted other birds — house finches, mourning doves, white-winged doves, cardinals, and that little scamp, the Bewick’s wren. The woodpeckers declined to land on the ground. No room for grackles.
While soaking, and cooling, what do we read? In total chaos, or at least, in no particular order:
Cartoon by Chicago cartoonist John T. McCutcheon, 1909
- At the Chicago History Journal, a story of New Year’s, 1909, illustrated with a cartoon by John T. McCutcheon. In 1909, Chicago spent $1 million celebrating the new year. Why not? The Cubs had won their second consecutive World Series the previous summer. McCutcheon’s political cartoons appear everywhere illustrating the Gilded Age, the Age of Imperialism, the Progressive Era, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression and the run-up to World War II – but usually without any attribution to him. I was happy to find a trove of his material, making it easier to identify his work. See, too, Roger Ebert’s Journal. McCutcheon’s work gives insight into the Great Depression, too. Chicago celebrates McCutcheon almost as much as he celebrated Chicago; the rest of us ought to catch up.
- Reagan’s mythology leading us off a cliff? Paul Rosenberg of Random Lengths, lists the false myths about Ronald Reagan that, he says, poison political discussion today and bring Washington to gridlock. Oddly enough, Rosenberg’s piece got carried on the English Al Jazeera site. Is it true that Bill Clinton was more popular than Reagan? Maybe progressives should get a group up to start naming things after Bill Clinton; or maybe we should just name it the Ronald Reagan National Debt.
- Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman gives a sober assessment of Republican politics these days in his New York Times column: “Getting to Crazy.” Sez Krugman:
A number of commentators seem shocked at how unreasonable Republicans are being. “Has the G.O.P. gone insane?” they ask.
Why, yes, it has. But this isn’t something that just happened, it’s the culmination of a process that has been going on for decades. Anyone surprised by the extremism and irresponsibility now on display either hasn’t been paying attention, or has been deliberately turning a blind eye.
And may I say to those suddenly agonizing over the mental health of one of our two major parties: People like you bear some responsibility for that party’s current state.
- What if they made a movie about Sarah Palin, and nobody came to see it in Orange County, California, the heart of American Republican conservatism?
- The third return of a cancerous brain tumor took away her ability to teach, so she turned to writing children’s books. First one coming out in time for Christmas.
- Chutzpah, with the proper pronunciation: Republicans demand $55 million from the federal government for security at their convention, ‘AND PAY IT NOW!’
- If you’re discussing whether various states execute innocent people, an informed discussion better include Herrera v. Collins 506 U.S. 390, the 1993 case in which Texas won the right to execute an innocent man — innocence being not a good reason to reopen the case, the Supreme Court ruled. If God is punishing the U.S., I think this case may be why.
- Ed Brayton has a story with stirring video about another innocent man, this time who got out of jail.
- You voted for Obama, but he’s not given the performance you think he should have? So you’re thinking of voting for a third-party candidate? Read this. It makes Santaya’s Ghost smile.
- Planning to join Texas’s candidate for Saul of the Year Rick Perry at his pray-in? Don’t bring your gun. That means you, Mr. NRA!
- Speaking of people who don’t think President Obama is doing all that he should, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project kicks off a new round of . . . information? September. Don’t be caught on the glacier.
- 100 songs that Messed with Texas (from NPR)
You can only read until your fingers get all wrinkly. There’s still stuff on the reading stack!
Another soak, for another time.
1 Comment | Cartoons, History, Humor, Music, Political cartoons, Politics | Tagged: Cartoons, Chicago, History, History images, Humor, John T. McCutcheon, Music, Political cartoons, Politics | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Superstition that takes your breath away
July 12, 2011This is the astonishing sort of statement that makes P. Z. Myers in his crabbiest modes of atheism look completely calm and cool in his rationalism.
Our old authoritarian, anti-discussion friend Neil Simpson said:
As a Christian, I scoff at superstitions. I leave those to non-believers.
Yeah, the same Neil Simpson who holds superstitious convictions that evolution is wrong, warming doesn’t occur and CO2 can’t be a greenhouse gas, etc., etc. Check out his blog — is there any statement he makes that is not based in superstition?
He’ll probably argue that he has proof of Jesus, so what Jesus would have called faith, Simpson will call evidence-based views.
How can someone practice the faith when they deny it’s faith? Aye, there’s a huge problem for Christianity these days.
_____________
See Dictionary.com:
superstition [soo-per-stish-uhn] – noun
1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
2. a system or collection of such beliefs.
3. a custom or act based on such a belief.
and,
relgion [ri-lij-uhn] – noun
1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
_____________
Update: At Dispatches from the Culture Wars, Ed Brayton finds the statement laughable, too. As always, more comments at the more-trafficked sites.
Leave a Comment » | Humor, Rampant stupidity, Religion | Tagged: Humor, Neil Simpson, Rampant stupidity, Religion, Superstition | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Red, white and blue: Driving the flag
July 12, 2011Wish I had more details on this photo — purported to be made of Corvettes:
Would it get more people to salute it this way?
Who dreams up this stuff?
_____________
Who dreams it up? A conclave called “Corvettes at Carlisle” (Pennsylvania):
Edited version, from Corvettes at Carlisle
Leave a Comment » | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Humor | Tagged: Corvettes, Flag images, Fly your flag today, Humor, Made In America, U.S. Flag | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Why is the Texas Chainsaw Massacre so popular?
June 29, 2011And, why do people so very, very much, want that story to be true and not fictional?
Here’s the list of stories from this blog that were most popular over the past seven days; the top two stories hold about those ranks week in and week out:
Top Posts (the past week)
Based on a true story — except, not Texas. Not a chainsaw. Not a massacre. 530 views
28 poems on living life to the fullest, today 425 views
True story: Yellow Rose of Texas, and the Battle of San Jacinto 167 views
News flash: Texas has a second natural lake! 136 views
Nuclear power plant incident in Nebraska?
Hoaxed Nebraska nuclear plant crisis update
Quote of the moment: John F. Kennedy, “We choose to go to the Moon”
Someone somewhere is discussing whether the story behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies is real or fictional. I can’t find that discussion, alas.
Either that, or we have a lot of prurient interests out there.
Interesting mix of story viewings, otherwise.
2 Comments | Administrivia, Education, History, Humor, Internet, Technology | Tagged: Administrivia, Education, History, Humor, Internet, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Abrupt end
June 22, 2011News reports say Sarah Palin quit her bus tour of America less than halfway through.
Sarah Palin's custom-painted bus, parked -- is this abandoned parking lot the last stop?
That’s rather unusual, don’t you think? Our Band of Merry History Teachers stuck to our bus tour last week until the bus wore out. I’d expect Palin to keep it up so long as the air conditioning held out.
No, I’m not running. I may be better prepared than some of the candidates, but I have a job to do, and I can’t speak Mandarin.
Ed Darrell wrestling with the Presidential Seal and a balky teleprompter.
6 Comments | 2012 Campaigns, 2012 Elections, Campaigns, Elections, Humor | Tagged: 2010 Elections, Campaigns, Finishing the Job, Humor, Politics, Sara Palin | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Punchline too brutal for work: Why it is that environmentalists are the real humanitarians
June 21, 2011The fictional but very popular memes that environmentalists hate humans, humanity and capitalism wouldn’t bother me so much if they didn’t blind their believers to larger truths and sensible policies on environmental protection.
One may argue the history of the environmental movement, how most of the originators were great capitalists and humanitarians — think Carnegie, Laurance Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and all the early medical doctors who warned of the dangers of pollution-caused diseases — but it falls on deaf ears on the other sides.
Here’s the 30-second response, from Humon, in cartoon form:
Facts of life and environmental protection – from Humon at Deviant Art
Facts of life and environmental protection – from Humon at Deviant Art
Tip of the old scrub brush to P. Z. Myers, and Mia, whoever she is. Myers noted, “Environmentalism is actually an act of self defense.”
11 Comments | Art, Cartoons, Climate change, climate_change, Environment, Environmental protection, History, Humor, pollution, Science | Tagged: Art, Cartoons, Climate change, Environmental protection, Gaia, Global warming, History, Humon, Humor, pollution, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Gotta know some history — and myth — to get the joke: Greece’s financial crisis
June 19, 2011From the highly-respected Borowitz Report:
Greece Offers to Repay Loans with Giant Horse
Steed Wheeled Into Brussels at Night
BRUSSELS (The Borowitz Report) – In what many are hailing as a breakthrough solution to Greece’s crippling debt crisis, Greece today offered to repay loans from the European Union nations by giving them a gigantic horse.
Finance ministers from sixteen EU nations awoke in Brussels this morning to find that a huge wooden horse had been wheeled into the city center overnight.
Sometimes I think we could do better than some of the state standards if we just used a New Yorker cartoon standard: Kids will be considered educated when they can explain all the cartoons in four consecutive issues of The New Yorker, and tell why they are funny.
In the same piece, Borowitz digs at Palin’s supporters and al-Qaeda’s new CEO. It’s worth the click.
14 Comments | Europe, Greece, History, Humor, Mythology | Tagged: Borowitz Report, European Union, Greece, History, Humor, Mythology, Troy | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The Sarah Palin History Network 06/07/11
June 9, 2011The Sarah Palin History Network explains the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
The Sarah Palin History Network 06/07/11, posted with vodpod
Is any comment really necessary?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Joan Samuels Kaiser.
2 Comments | Bogus history, Humor, Politics, Voodoo history | Tagged: Bogus history, Conan O'Brien, Humor, Politics, Sarah Palin, Voodoo history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
No bus coming, so Republican/Tea Partiers call cops on Grandma
May 25, 2011Republicans and Tea Partiers in Michigan can’t exactly be accused of throwing their grandmothers under the bus, but only because there was no bus coming at that moment.
U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Michigan, scheduled a meeting with Tea Party supporters last Saturday. When senior citizens showed up, apparently fearing they would raise some questions about the Republican budget plan with figuratively throws grandma under the bus with drastic cuts to Medicare, organizers called police, claiming the post-65 group had started physical violence.
You couldn’t make this stuff up, could you? If it were fiction, who would believe it?
Read the full story at DailyKos (with links to ThinkProgress):
One way Republicans have found of dealing with the bad press and hostility they’ve faced in public meetings over their highly unpopular budget plan has been what’s actually a pretty typical Republican response: censorship. They’ve clamped down on reporters and citizen journalists, barring them from recording the events.
In Michigan, they’ve taken it up a notch, courtesy of Tea Party control freaks who not only banned a group of senior citizens and reporters, but called security on them at an event with Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI).
Rep. Justin Amash held a townhall meeting sponsored by a Tea Party group on Saturday
sponsored by a Tea Party group, but a group of senior citizens and two reporters — including this one — were denied entry to the event.The traditional purpose of a townhall meeting is for an elected official to meet with his constituents in public, giving the people a chance to ask questions and engage in dialogue with their representatives. But neither the organizers nor Amash apparently wanted to hear from or speak to a group of concerned senior citizens — even at a time when the fate of Medicare is being debated in Congress.About eight senior citizens arrived at the Prince Conference Center on the Calvin College campus for a chance to question Amash concerning his voting record in regards to eliminating Medicare.
Once barred from attending the event, the seniors stood out in the parking lot where they were taking questions from this reporter and Tanya Somanader of Think Progress, the two members of the media who were denied access. Eventually, six security guards arrived on the scene and said that both the seniors and the reporters had to leave.
Amash, and the Michigan Republicans, appear to be too embarrassed to talk about the GOP budget approved by the House of Representatives. Those senior citizens kicked out of the meeting had been invited to attend by the Tea Party, apparently unaware that their ideas are unpopular among their own nominal supporters. Invited, then kicked out.
Amash and Republicans should be embarrassed.
At least the security guys who responded also saw the humor in the ridiculous situation
1 Comment | Humor, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Republican Party | Tagged: Budget, GOP, Humor, Medicare, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Republican Party, Tea Party, Teabaggers | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Birth certificate mugs? Pour my coffee right in, wake ’em up!
May 18, 2011I get e-mail that makes me smile on a dreary day (everything below quoted from the e-mail):
Ed —
Let me introduce you to Jerome Corsi.
This week he released a new book that the publisher says will be a bestseller “of historic proportions.”
The title is “Where’s the Birth Certificate?” — yes, really.
Corsi’s work is a greatest-hits reel of delusions, ranging from 9/11 conspiracies to claiming that there is an infinite supply of oil in the Earth’s core. In 2008, he published a book about Barack Obama claiming, among other things, that he (a) is a secret Muslim; (b) is secretly anti-military; (c) secretly dealt drugs; and (d) secretly supported terrorist actions when he was eight years old. So many secrets!
FactCheck.org called Corsi’s work “a mishmash of unsupported conjecture, half-truths, logical fallacies and outright falsehoods.”
There’s really no way to make this stuff completely go away. The only thing we can do is laugh at it — and make sure as many other people as possible are in on the joke.
So let’s just do this — get your Obama birth certificate mug here:
Last year, the President said, “I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead.”
This is about as close as we can get.
If the facts can’t make these ridiculous smears go away, we can at least have a little fun with it.
And then we’ll get back to the important work of supporting the President as he tackles real problems like high gas prices, the deficit, and unemployment.
Thanks,
Julianna
Julianna Smoot
Deputy Campaign Manager
Obama for AmericaP.S. — Mug not your thing? How about a T-shirt?
Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible.
Leave a Comment » | 2012 Campaigns, Barack Obama, Birth Certificate, Campaigns, History, Humor, Politics, President Obama | Tagged: Barack Obama, Birth Certificate, Campaign 2012, History, Humor, Politics, President Obama | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Thinking of voting Republican?
May 14, 2011
The artist shows the voter aiming much lower than the real damage, even to the opposite end of the body.
7 Comments | Citizenship, Humor, Republican Party | Tagged: Citizenship, Class Warfare, Humor, Politics, Republican, voting | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Shorter Ayn Rand
May 14, 2011Apologies in profusion to Shel Silverstein, wherever you are
Tip of the old scrub brush to New APPS: Art, Politics, Philosophy, Science. That site attributes the quote to John Rogers, via Andrew Sullivan. It may be so.
6 Comments | Humor, Politics | Tagged: Ayn Rand, Humor, Objectivism, Objectivist Tree, Politics, Shel Silverstein | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
New in tattoos: The formula of Wall Street doom
May 11, 2011Here’s one the prof won’t even care about — you can’t cheat with this one, and if you do, you get burned:
Tattoo of the formula that created the 2008 financial crisise, from Marketplace.
Marketplace, the radio program, noted it, and described it:
The financial crisis in one handy tattoo: surely you remember the formula that caused the financial crisis. But you haven’t seen it like this, from a creative friend of Marketplace who works for advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy, based in Portland. He enlisted “the ever-brilliant designer James Tung, computational typeface author Donald Knuth, and the steady hand of Cheyenne at Atlas Tattoo, according to his Facebook post[.]
Earlier, Marketplace interviewed Felix Salmon, who wrote about the formula for Wired.
RYSSDAL: This guy, David Li, what was he trying to do?
SALMON: What David Li was trying to do was look at lots of different bonds and try and work out whether they were all moving in the same direction or not. Whether they were correlated or not. Whether they were independent of each other or not. And he created this astonishing piece of mathematics called the Gaussian copula function, which sought to answer that very question.
RYSSDAL: What does that mean — Gaussian copula? I mean, if I can just take a little sidebar here for a second.
SALMON: People get very scared when they hear the word Gaussian. But this is just one way of looking to see whether one set of probabilities is associated with another set of probabilities. The really key part of the Gaussian copula function is the copula bit. It’s what’s known as a multivariant copula. You can take lots of different bonds or stocks or any kind of securities you like, and you can throw them all into one big equation and out the end get a single number which is easily manipulable and trackable as they say in the world of quantitative finance.
If you mention “Gaussian copula functions” at a cocktail party, you might do well to avoid anyone who appears to know what you’re talking about . . .
Leave a Comment » | Economics, History, History and art, Humor | Tagged: Economics, Finance, Gaussian copula functions, History, Humor, Mathematics, Tattoos, Wall Street | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 