ETA: It is AMAZING how a few botched tags can fuck up your post. Please pardon the missing content from earlier.
Friday is always a slow newsday, and in the wake of the holiday it’s doubly slow. “Leaner and meaner”? Really? How is insanity defined, and can that definition be expanded to include “sometimes caused by hearing the same old wives tale for the thousandth time”? I feel like we’ve re-trained the iraq army more times than Thomas Friedman has gained wisdom fro a magical negro New Delhi cab driver.
Meanwhile, now that it’s no longer a necessary distraction from the US election, ebola’s still killing the shit out of people in Sierra leone.
BREAKING: Looks like it’s not such a slow news day after all:
A man shot up a federal courthouse and a Mexican consulate — which he also seemingly tried to set ablaze — early Friday before being shot dead outside the Austin, Texas, police headquarters, that city’s police chief said.
The shooter fired “over 100 rounds” in a roughly 10-minute span, but he did not hit anyone even though the bullets ricocheted at a typically busy time in downtown Austin, when streets fill up with people after bars close for the night.[…]
Authorities have not offered a motive, but the police chief said that the shooter’s “violent anti-government behavior” — as evidenced by attacking buildings that belong to Mexico’s government, the U.S. government and, in the police headquarters, the city government — may have come from ongoing and often vitriolic debates in society.
Be thankful you’re not Scott Stapp, who is undoubtedly being punished for this:
Perhaps Scott and Bill Cosby will move in together, and make a comeback together through a hilarious comedy/reality show.
A few weeks back, between biking 5 miles each direction to work, and running 2-3 days a week, I overdid it . My left hamstring has been one strip of throbbing gristle ever since. Last night I was introduced to the foam roller and my leg feels so good (you can make a super hard roller for cheap with a length of 3″ PVC pipe and spend a lot less).
For those of you in and around Philly, I’ll be at the Institute this evening for their First Friday Bluegrass jam session. If you’re in the area, drop by and say Howdy (ie, Phil Perspective). If you play the bluegrass music, bring an instrument. Starts around 10:00 pm.
OK, I think that’s about it for me. Time to get some fresh air. Add your own news, notes, what-have-you in comments.
Ugh!! I can’t make it tonight. Hopefully next time. I’d certainly love to come watch/hear.
The Austin guy was probably driven crazy by Rush Limbaugh et al screaming about immigration.
Looks like the bottom fell out of the oil market after OPEC decided to maintain its current output. Brent Crude is now testing the $70 per barrel mark and WTI is now in the mid-60s. Interesting times.
If gas prices go any lower the republicans will have to invent yet another imaginary bubble in which to contain themselves.
Insanity is what cost North Carolina.
NC Democratic Party uses voter shaming to spur turnout
My next door neighbor was infuriated and called the NC Democratic Party number. They said that yes it was them and that they had been getting a lot of phone calls about it.
And that’s what they called GOTV. Looks like a blatant attempt to sabotage the Moral Monday movement.
Keever is now the unopposed candidate for state party chair. Unfreakingbelieveable.
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On ebola in Sierra Leone, the US moved to deal with the situation in Liberia, the British sent 100 troops to Sierra Leone but not much information about their mission, and only this week have the French begun to aide Guinea. This is a reasonable breakdown because nationals from those countries tend to emigrate to the former colonial metropolitan country. And the immigrants in the US, UK, and France would of course have relatives back the home country.
The situation in general is that “push” for aid doesn’t mean that developed countries provide sufficient aid. The aid that is needed is payment for additional community workers to chase down contacts of new cases for diagnosis, sufficient lab tech capabilities to provide rapid turn-around of testing, and more local emergency medical and treatment centers so that people do not have to travel through many communities to get to treatment. And there is a need for trained mortuary units to handle the disposal of bodies in a sanitary and dignified manner. And waste disposal units to get rid of highly infectious medical waste.
The NYT headline was infuriatingly cynical in tone. And not helpful.
he’s indigent and staying in a Holiday Inn?? a wacky comedy series/ reality show will do it!
I hope Scott Stapp gets his shit together. We have a friend who spent well over a decade fighting the same kind of hellish battle against drugs that he seems to be fighting. She has been clean now for about a year and a half, but we all know how easy it would be to relapse. It is the ultimate tragic story to watch someone’s life swirl down that shitty hellhole of drug addiction. Addiction isn’t the kind of thing that a person can just “buck up” and overcome. For the sake of his family, and especially his children, I hope he gets the help he needs.