Sunday Morning Reading Material Third Sunday in September 2011- 13 months of Sundays Edition
It’s Sunday Morning. Sundays are for sleeping- or the slim possibility of swimming, if you can get your ass (and the rest of you) out of bed. Sundays are for waking up late, and recognizing that it will be after morning when the wedding starts. Sundays might possibly be for tracing circuits into your body– but I might be misreading that. Sundays could be for brunch with your parents. Sundays? Sundays are for NFL, baby.
This week… the world’s continued existence continued. Given that there are over 6.7 billion human beings on Earth, over a dozen ongoing wars being waged by humans, and an escalating economic crisis, it seems almost cruel to say that “nothing happened this week”. Yet it seems fair to say that the most significant happenings this week were that things failed to change.
Imagine for a moment that Sony deliberately does something that causes you= and a million other people- $30 worth of problems. Nothing criminal. Just a breach of contract. Your only recourse is to sue. But… who sues for $30? Not only that, but no lawyer is going to be willing to work for 10% of $30. The other alternative is to band together with those million other people and sue for $30 X 1,000,000. There are many lawyers willing to take a case that might get them a $3,000,000 payday. This is the problem that “tort reform” aims to solve. This is why Sony will no longer do business with anyone who doesn’t agree to give up their right to a class action lawsuit. Sony isn’t alone.
Until I saw this map, I didn’t realize that “river” was a regionalism.
One of the ironies of poverty: being poor is expensive. Money costs money to borrow, and the more likely a person is to repay that money, the less money they will be charged for it. America used to have laws against usury, but the supreme court basically repealed them back in 1978. Indeed, merely beleving that it was just to charge interest was enough to cause someone to be sent to hell. In these enlightened times, access to capital is seen as a paramount virtue. Remember kids: it’s only class warfare when the poor fight back.
There are some very rich people who have done nothing with their money. Some of them, like Steve Jobs, are hardware/software computer people. I bet one of them could design, engineer, and replicate enough total immersion driving simulators to let every 16-18 year old in America experience real-world driving conditions in a totally safe environment.
One of the most pernicious lies about racism, is that someone isn’t a racist if they’re not a member of the Klan. Lets be clear: the prosecutor who asked a jury to kill a man for being black is racist. Each of the 12 people on the jury who agreed? Racist. The judge who didn’t declare the argument inadmissible? racist. And if Rick Perry isn’t willing to everything he can to keep this one man from being murdered by the state of Texas… well. He’s either racist, or a murder-happy clown.
The problem with journalism- any kind of journalism- is that no one knows how to make money off it. It is incredibly difficult to prove to people that the work a journalist is doing is worth paying for. And there is so much good, free, stuff online that even consuming the best of that would be a full time job. If I knew the answer to this problem… you’d see me making a living out of posting to this blog.
The goal of terrorism is right there in the name. People with grievances and without political power use fear to force the powerful to change behavior. Ali couldn’t match Foreman punch for punch. Instead he forced Foreman to uselessly expend a lot of energy, and waited for a mistake. The terrorists won. We’re terrified. America may have killed Bin Laden, but not before he forced America to commit suicide.
Perhaps there was once a golden era where Labor was so strong that it could force management to pay more than was reasonable, and give other perks besides. Today, workers fight for what our ancestors fought for: a living wage, and working conditions that won’t kill you. The alternative to labor unions is depending on noblesse oblige– the French Revolution taught the world the inevitable result of that.
Retro cred locavore ethical aliqua.
The recurring theme of Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me is that history books are terrified of presenting anything but the “Great Man” theory of history. America had a problem, a Great Man came along and whacked it down. We never get the sense that mass action is required for mass changes. Likewise: all problems are presented as having been solved. The past will never have been as perfect as history books suggest.
Most dudes I know have never been taught how to dress themselves. Here are 25 basic rules. Print them out and read them. Print them out and give them to a dude.
Sadly, this invisibility cloak can’t (yet!) be fitted into an actual cloak.
The framers of the US constitution realized that it is necessary for someone to do the unpleasant job of wielding power. They also realized that power tends to corrupt. so they designed a system by which everyone would closely monitor the people holding power. Modern American police seem to believe that they ought to be above checks having their power monitored. This scares me.
Having a brain that’s wired differently than standard can be a major pain in the ass. I can only imagine what it would be like to watch a child- whom you love- grow up… different.
From Labor’s point of view, the recession started in 2001. It’s been a decade since Labor had any security in income, or personal welfare. Our safety net has seemingly shrunk in proportion to the need for it. Naturally, reporting this story is seen as class warfare.
Intellectual Property trolls do more than keep Joss Whedon from making a Star Wars movie. They can also condemn millions to death.
The worst thing you will read all week. America is busy treating its Muslim population the way Al Quadea wants America to treat its Muslim population.
If you click only one link:
If any of these stories has moved you. If you’ve ever chucked knowingly at the line “It’s only class warfare when the poor fight back”, pick up your fucking phone and call your god damned congressional representatives. Be polite. But read that link and then make a note to call first thing Monday morning. And then make that call. First thing Monday morning.
This week’s theme has been not being able to get the hang of Thursdays. So: in the comments below, tell me about your favorite kitty adventures.
