Month: May 2017

 
From Frances Langum:

By now you’ve heard that Ivanka Trump’s official company Twitter, which she did not write and would never write, stepped in this over the Memorial Day Holiday:

And of course, Twitter had a field day over it.

It’s not just that Ivanka is commemorating our fallen war dead with picnic activities — it’s that her class NEVER participates in America during times of national loss. War time? Other people serve. Financial crisis? Borrow money from the Russians. Release tax returns to the public? That’s for non-‘business people.’

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From The Onion:

The Onion has obtained hundreds of documents from an anonymous source within the White House.

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From The Intersection of Madness and Reality:

Today’s lesson will be about appropriation.

The appropriation that I will speak on has nothing to do with the simple “taking something of use from someone without permission”. This (mis)appropriation is culturally based: the adoption or use of elements from one culture to another. Typically, this is harmful because it bastardizes the original form for usage purposes. And that usage is normally taken from a smaller culture that tends to be castigated as negative in the first place.

Let us take a look at a clear example of recent existence: Miley Cyrus. Before having a change of heart, Miley was such the dedicated Memphis rap lover. In her younger years, she was a surprisingly/unsurprising fan of Three Six Mafia. Eventually, she would date Mike Will Made It, start making “edgier” music, “twerk” with a bunch of black women in videos/on stage, and cater to the “urban” market. Some would say Miley was turned out; others would feel she was marketing for a buck.

It seems that the latter was correct.

Miley pulled the full 180 on top of the 180 just to go back to her original roots: country/rock/pop/whatever music. In an interview, she noted that rap music “was too much ‘Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock’—I am so not that”. And no, many people did not take this sentiment lightly. It became quite unnerving for many that she used hip hop culture, became a caricature of it, and then dismissed it for having the same elements she stereotyped it for. If anything, Miley became the perfect example of cultural appropriation 101: adoration, abuse, and then admonishment.

As Miley left, in came Katy Perry.

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From Vagabond Scholar:

Memorial Day is meant to remember those who died in military service. I watched the Memorial Day Concert from the U.S. Capitol on PBS, as I often do. I’m not a fan of schmaltzy stuff, and there’s plenty of that, but I do appreciate that for the past several years the concert has told some not-rosy wartime stories and has covered subjects such as PTSD, suicide, and recovering from severe injuries and dealing with disabilities. This year was no exception…

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Wondering why a few conservative friends are less than impressed.

 
From Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara:

We have all kinds of labor laws allegedly for the purpose of “protecting workers.” And these laws are growing like a cancer, hampering job creation and maintenance as they do. For example, the New Jersey Star-Ledger lauded a state Supreme Court ruling that upheld a man’s lawsuit against his employer for firing him because he was divorced, effectively making it illegal for “a worker [to] be fired or discriminated against because they are separated from or divorcing their spouse.”

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From The Journal of Improbable Research:

The international campaign against adding flouride to public water supplies has just had a monkey wrench thrown into their works. A new study reports that flouride is in the beer supply, in considerable amounts. The study is:

“Beer as a Rich Source of Fluoride Delivered into the Body,” D. Styburski, I. Baranowska-Bosiacka, M. Goschorska, D. Chlubek, and I. Gutowska, Biological Trace Element Research, 2016, pp. 1-5.

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From PZ Myers:

It’s a whole collection of Baghdad Bobs. You have to see this ludicrous fascist propaganda from Jeanine Pirro to believe it.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Here are just her opening sentences.

President Trump has wrapped up his intense 9 day overseas international voyage that by all accounts was a home run. Our commander-in-chief, the pillar of strength and a true advocate for America. His message: clear and unequivocal. There was no apology, no wimpish behavior, and no bowing down to other leaders. But instead, strength, honor, and determination.

“By all accounts”?

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From tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors:

Let’s start with the CBO Score of the Trickle-Down Health Care Act, you know the thing that says giving tax breaks to billionaires will make us all healthy.

Mike ‘Payola’ Allen writing the morning email thingie at Axios:

Under the CBO projections, the House bill will still un-insure a lot of people (23 million vs. 24 million before the “fix”), save less money in deficit reduction than the prior version, and open up a can of worms that could make people with employer-sponsored insurance worry that their policies might change.

Anyone with a preexisting condition now covered by Obamacare will worry that they might lose coverage (and they could). Opponents will argue that it disproportionately hurts older, sicker, and poorer Americans, and makes insurance more expensive for the sick and the pregnant.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends are less than impressed.