BitWrench

What Is It Good For? "Absolutely Nothing!" Edwin Starr-War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWmlRNfLck Originally shared by Damn interesting https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-world-war-i-battle-that-turned-into-a-suicide-mission

Glee "The Mike and Micky Show" https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8458582/the-monkees-mike-nesmith-micky-dolenz-interview-tour

Universal Soldier Since this week's issue of the New People's Campaign is Militarism, this song came to mind. Buffy St. Marie wrote it in a coffee shop even before we fully entered the quagmire of Vietnam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50lVLtSQik

As Was Foretold Originally shared by David McKeever

XKCD2K Do Backflow Preventers make the Internets a Nicer Place? Discuss. Originally shared by Susan Jahn https://twitter.com/xkcdComic/status/1001869720465780736?s=09

All Jacked Up #joinindaily with Johnny Wills Today's theme is 4.

#WordlessOnWednesday #wordlesswednesday

Mass Protest Incarceration https://medium.com/@kylemmoore725/around-321-arrests-nationwide-for-week-two-of-poor-peoples-campaign-c875252d04fc

Fight For Fifteen! Originally shared by Semicentenary Project

Doing The Numbers Immigration Law and Enforcement is Complicated, folks. There are Bad, Bad Things Happening. But it helps to understand how it works (or doesn't). https://twitter.com/jduffyrice/status/1000927903759110144

Riding The Rhombus For #joinindaily with Johnny Wills, the theme is Diamonds.

The Great Gargoo Is Gone http://file770.com/?p=42443 "Did y’ever hear the one about the old man and the sea? Halt a minute, lordling; stop and listen. It’s a fine story, full of balance and point and social pith; short and direct. It’s not mine. Mine are long and rambling and parenthetical and they corrode the moral fiber right out of a man. Come to think, I won’t tell you that one after all. A man of my age has a right to prefer his own material, and let the critics be damned. I’ve a prejudice now for webs of my own weaving." "Sit down, sit down: but against pavement, yes; it’s been done before. Everything has, near about. Now that’s not an expression of your black pessimism, or your futility, or what have you. Pessimism’s just the commonsense knowledge that there’s more ways for something to go wrong than for it to go right, from our point of view anyway—which is not necessarily that of the management, or of the mechanism, if you prefer your cosmos depersonalized. As f...

The New Poor People's Campaign: Week 3 More protests and non-violent direct actions at our Nation's Capitol, and at all State Capitols. We sent another crew to Raleigh this morning. How about you? We need a strong, professional military. But we don't need to be constantly embroiled in pointless wars simply to keep the military-industrial complex happy. And we don't need to confuse the roles of the military and police, especially in terms of equipment. Nor do we need to raise a Nation on the idea that conflict is always best resolved with more, bigger guns.

Everybody Loves A Parade Rah! Rah! Sis-Boom-Bah! Only With Guns. War Is Football, Y'all. If You Aren't In Favor Of It, You're UnAmerican. Look At The Photo. What Do You See? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/27/us/politics/military-parade-trump-army-82nd.html

Who Will Audit The Auditors? Originally shared by Damn interesting https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/29/the-financial-scandal-no-one-is-talking-about-big-four-accountancy-firms

Strict Liability "Strict Liability" is a legal doctrine that is older than Common Law. You'll notice, of course, that it is never mentioned with regards to the actions of Governments. In a case closer to home, someone is being charged with murder after running through a checkpoint and fleeing. One of the troopers following him died in a single vehicle accident. The perpetrator fled to avoid being charged with driving with a revoked license. https://www.wral.com/man-arrested-after-trooper-dies-in-chase-in-yadkin-county/17573949/ http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-swatting-kansas-federal-charges-20180523-story.html

A Check On Progress I'm beginning to think that one of the primary tasks ahead of us is to eliminate the idea of Sovereign Immunity, especially in areas where Law Enforcement is concerned. It's hard to get folks to do right, if there are no rules, and no oversight. Originally shared by Damn interesting https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/terry-bressi-wants-to-take-customs-and-border-protections-internal-immigration-checkpoints-to-the-supreme-court.html

A Knotty Fellow Today's #joinindaily theme with Johnny Wills is mirrors.

Layers Of History Almost every year, I hear tell of another story about the origins of Memorial Day. Mostly, I've always heard about its roots in Decoration Day, and Dinner On The Ground (in the cemetery). That is a fairly old Appalachian tradition, still practiced today, and wasn't directly associated with remembrance of war dead. It was a time to assemble at the graveyard, spruce things up, and decorate the graves with flowers. And then to eat there, in the cemetery. Appalachian cemeteries weren't always just for one church, or any church, so it was more of a community thing. One thing for sure, you didn't leave a Dinner On The Ground hungry, and there would be Stack Cake to eat. A lot of variations in that, too, but mostly I recall it being thin buttermilk layer cakes, sweetened with sorghum or molasses (almost like pancakes, more like gingerbread cookies) with ginger spiced apple sauce/apple butter in between the layers, and being set aside for at least a coupl...

Red State, Red Pencil "...shall be carefully edited to reflect the ideals and expectations of the citizens of the District for their schools." Can't get published without more Positivity. If you are afeered of a High School student newspaper? You are a thin skinned rascal, not a leader. Originally shared by Kevin Clarke (ksclarke) http://www.splc.org/article/2018/05/prosper-high-school

Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh "A Malian migrant hailed as a hero for scaling a building in Paris to save a four-year-old child hanging from a balcony is to be granted French citizenship. Mamoudou Gassama took just seconds to reach the child in a rescue captured on film and viewed millions of times online. After meeting Gassama at the Élysée Palace on Monday morning, President Emmanuel Macron thanked the 22-year-old and said he would be made a naturalised citizen. Macron also said he would be given a role as a volunteer firefighter. [...] Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, praised Gassama on Twitter for his “act of bravery” and phoned him to “thank him warmly”. She described him as the “Spider-Man of the 18th”, referring to the Paris district where the rescue happened. “He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life here,” she said. “I told him that his heroic act is an example to all citizens and t...

GDPR I'll be in the third cloven pine from the left. https://www.xkcd.com/1998/

The Perils Of Un-Orthodoxy #sacredsunday https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/nyregion/orthodox-jewish-divorce-custody-ny.html

STP "The Racer's Edge" in Automotive Aftermarket Products. https://www.wral.com/sheriff-90m-worth-of-crystal-meth-found-in-fuel-tank-in-harnett-county/17567224/

Redemption This is what the Justice System looks like. This is what the War On Drugs, Tough On Crime, looks like. Cui Bono? Originally shared by Damn interesting http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/he-heads-back-prison-nashville-man-says-goodbye-new-life-he-hoped-build

The Writing Life With Man-Killing Leeches... http://www.cherryh.com/WaveWithoutAShore/leeches-man-killing-leeches/

The Great Trent River Raft Race #tbt #throwbackthursday http://www.newbernsj.com/news/20180113/great-trent-river-raft-race-to-return-to-new-bern

His Master's Voice Originally shared by Darran Hughes My Amazon Alexa placed upside down and lifted from the glass surface with felt pads. Then cover Alexa with a 1930s horn speaker (with the old speaker removed of course) And when you ask Alexa for music the glass surface glows blue to show she has heard you. The music comes from the horn speaker. Retro.

*ICE ICE Baby* Johnston admitted to officers that he pretended to be an ICE agent because his “ex-wife had insulted him in front of his daughter and told his daughter that he had done nothing with his life,” according to court records. He had decided to masquerade as an ICE agent because “nobody knew who ICE was and he did not want to pick a local agency where people might know individuals who worked at the agency, because he feared being caught,” according to court records. After obtaining a warrant, federal and local law enforcement officials on Oct. 23 searched Johnston’s home and discovered 32 firearms — including shotguns, rifles, pistols and revolvers — large amounts of ammunition, cannon fuses, pipes, homemade rockets and other destructive accessories, court records show. Originally shared by Damn interesting https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/05/22/a-man-posed-for-months-as-an-ice-agent-a-traffic-stop-led-his-girlfriend-to-unravel-the-truth/

#WordlessWednesday #wordlessonwednesday

Originally shared by Will Shetterly

Mama Dip All of her food was good. Her pie was better than good. It's been awhile since I've set at a table there, but I'll always remember her warm smile. And that laugh! Her cookbook is a favorite. https://www.wral.com/mama-dip-dies-mildren-council-chapel-hill/17569072/

Hoosegow Bound https://www.wral.com/chanting-protesters-arrested-at-general-assembly/17570113/

NVMFDA Non-Violent Moral Fusion Direct Action Training B 5-21-18 Ver. 1.0 The Revolution Begins With PowerPoint Bullets...

Getting Real "A little bit of real people doesn’t hurt. A little bit of real life doesn’t hurt. Be on your knees, scrape some dirt. Love the other. Try to dig people. Whether you have God or not, God told you to focus on life on earth, and if you do, there’s a place for you in heaven. This is longstanding wisdom from our elders. Take this as wisdom. Take it.” I've got Carhartts, too. Wash them at least once a week, and retire them when the ass rips out. I've got standards. Originally shared by Ray Radlein Pulitzer Prize Winner Working as Maintenance Man at Detroit Hot Dog Emporium https://www.weeklystandard.com/matt-labash/anticipating-trumps-america-charlie-leduff-gets-a-little-bit-of-real-people-in-detroit

Thanos Could Have Been Stopped "It’ll work because it’d be cool if it did.” The old Silicon Valley joke pitch..." Theranos? Not Thanos? Oh. https://mondaynote.com/theranos-could-have-been-stopped-9670793e3431 https://mondaynote.com/theranos-could-have-been-stopped-9670793e3431

Preach! There is a lot of evil in this world, always has been. Some of it seems bigger and closer than it used to. Evil needs to be identified, confronted. But not Feared. Because there is no Redemption through Fear. And Redemption is the goal. Not necessarily the Redemption of Religion, either. But the Redemption of Love. "[French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de] Chardin said that fire was one of the greatest discoveries in all of human history. And he then went on to say that if humanity every harnesses the energy of fire again, if humanity ever captures the energy of love, it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire." "Dr. King was right, we must discover love. The redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world." Text of his homily here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/style/bishop-michael-curry-royal-wedding.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLoGzo945S0

Missing The Point Originally shared by Rick Wayne (Author) A true story from my childhood. (I can't believe it's been four years since I shared this.) https://buff.ly/2GB05TX

The Roar Of The Waves Frederick Douglass: “Those who want freedom without struggle are like those who want rain without the thunder and lightening, who want the ocean without the roar of the waves.” Week 2 of the New Poor People's Campaign! https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/demands/ On Monday, May 21 in front of the North Carolina Legislative Building, a group of activists will gather to bear witness to our indecent immigration policy. We’ll bear witness to the anti-immigrant rhetoric from our politicians, to the fear running rampant in immigrant communities, to the horrible conditions in for-profit detention centers, and to the thousands of families who are being torn apart by anti-immigration enforcement. We'll be in the crowd because people came to this nation, like our ancestors came, to have a better life: free of autocratic rulers, free of poverty, and free of violence. We'll be in the crowd because our immigrant friends are afraid. Whether citizen, married to a cit...

Tarot As Narrative Generator http://www.asdesigned.com/tarot/ From Cassandra Khaw: https://twitter.com/casskhaw/status/997720843043164162?s=20 via Ray Radlein

Red River A timelapse of the NCAE Teacher's March through Raleigh, yesterday. https://www.reddit.com/r/raleigh/comments/8jxqsp/coworker_got_a_timelapse_of_the_teacher_march/

The Black Hole For a couple of days, now, I've been trying to post a New Yorker article originally posted by Irina T. But der Goog won't let me post, reshare, or nuttin'. And as is Google's usual wont, they don't respond to questions or complaints of any kind. There have been a number of posts in my stream lately about ethics, software, and tech. Frankly, I can think of no other industry that worships Freedom From Responsibility as much as the Tech industry does. We would all be outraged if physical products were allowed to fail as often, as inscrutably, and at such scale. But everybody yawns when the Tech Industry does it. Yawn.

La Cucaracha Originally shared by RJ “Kanjii” MWilliams https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/racist-nyc-lawyer-will-met-tacos-mariachi-band-dares-return-office/

Keeping Up With The Ju/’hoansi Originally shared by Damn interesting https://aeon.co/essays/why-inequality-bothers-people-more-than-poverty

#wordlessonwednesday

A Sea Of Red 15,000 people are converging on the State Capitol this morning, to protest the plight of teachers in North Carolina. Teachers are not allowed to unionize in NC (or strike or walkout), but the teachers are allowed to take leave, and have done so to the extent that many school districts have been forced to close. There are troublesome things about this, though. Many of their demands involve bringing the money up to the "national average". Does everybody get to do that? Will doing that magically fix notable problems? I noted that the Poor People's Campaign event yesterday, with its focus on women's issues, didn't address the plight of teachers (who are still predominantly female). Nor have I seen efforts by the NCAE to fill in the gap for childcare caused by the closings, although other organizations are making efforts. I'm hopeful to see folks agitating for change. I'm worried that they don't seem to be working together. https://www.wra...

Test I've tried to post something interesting about three times in the past couple of days, and der Goog won't cooperate. Maybe it will if I make it meaninglessly meta?

Phoning It In Virtual Reality. Originally shared by Damn interesting https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/05/jails-are-replacing-in-person-visits-with-video-calling-services-theyre-awful/

The New Poor People's Campaign The work begins today! On May 14, the Campaign will launch its first nation-wide event of the season with nonviolent moral direct actions in over 30 state capitals. Here in North Carolina, there will be an action at the State Capitol in Raleigh. WEEK ONE (May 13-19) SOMEBODY’S HURTING OUR PEOPLE: Children, Women, and People with Disabilities in Poverty https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/

From One Mother To Another Originally shared by Semicentenary Project

Down On The Farm https://priceonomics.com/the-dark-origins-of-conjugal-visits/ "You gotta understand that back in them days [n-words] were pretty simple creatures,” a prison sergeant told academic Columbus Hopper in the 1960s. “Give ‘em pork, some greens, some cornbread, and some poontang every now and then and they would work for you." "Oh, yeah, they are better workers,” a guard told Hopper. “If you let a [n-word] have some on Sunday, he will really go out and do some work for you on Monday." #sacredsunday https://priceonomics.com/the-dark-origins-of-conjugal-visits/

Left A Mark There was a time in New York City when, if you wanted to get inked, you had to know a guy. Tattooing was banned by the city's Health Department in 1961. The ban lasted until 1997. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/obituaries/thom-devita-85-dies-revolutionized-the-art-of-tattooing.html If a customer asked for a simple black panther, Thom DeVita might add bright red scratch marks around the claws, or embellish an image of a rose with dark radiating spider webs. His tattoos were bold, stylishly crude, abstract. They are often replicated by tattoo artists today. When asked in a 2012 documentary if it was his designs that drew his customers in, he was blunt. “No,” he said, “I was known for $30 tattoos. I was doing blue-collar workers, and guys who didn’t work.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l1mqYQuNf8

"Slap Yo' Mama Good" Does not mean, "Shoot Up The Truckstop Until I Get My Money's Worth." Bless His Heart. Originally shared by **** Argument over peach cobbler at Mississippi truck stop leaves man with gunshot wound Novascone says the customer in front of him in the checkout line was mad about the number of peaches that were served with his cobbler. http://whnt.com/2018/05/11/argument-over-peach-cobbler-leaves-man-with-gunshot-wound/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Highly Inclined #joinindaily Johnny Wills The theme is bridges.

Synesthesia “If the filmmaker intended the walls to be sort of green and you try to make them white, then other things will be problematic,” Mr. Price said. “The flesh tones will go off. The whites will turn magenta. Strange things will happen. To a certain degree, you have to listen to the camera negative itself.” Originally shared by K.B. Burnfield ‪*Christopher Nolan brings the restored 2001: A Space Odyssey to Cannes* - #2001 #kubrick #cannes http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/christopher-nolan-on-bringing-the-restored-2001-a-space-odyssey-to-cannes-126

Free Whitening System Ugh. I'm pretty sure this is not what we need. Why, whipipo, why? http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article210928539.html

Happy Happy Jon Carroll continues to speak to me, and of me, even after retirement. https://joncarrollprose.com/2018/04/09/happy-happy

Turbulence & Water Phantom For #joinindaily and Johnny Wills The theme is: Water Sports/Activities

RFD Time for the Grange to ride to the rescue, again: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Free_Delivery Originally shared by George Station https://www.thenation.com/article/in-rural-america-the-postal-service-is-already-collapsing/

Rolling, Rolling Down The River https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQnPz6TpGc http://www.bookofjoe.com/2018/05/11-foot-long-ribbon-map-of-the-mississippi-river.html

Good Grief! #throwbackthursday

#wordlessonwednesday #joinindaily for Johnny Wills Today's theme: yellow & pink together

International Man Of Mystery Pierre Rissient, dead at 81. "It is not enough to like a film. One must like it for the right reasons." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/obituaries/pierre-rissient-81-behind-the-scenes-force-of-cinema-dies.html https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/toronto-7-one-t-shirt-after-another

Getting Off Scooter Free https://www.salon.com/2018/05/06/scootergeddon-three-scooter-companies-one-exploitative-labor-model/ https://www.salon.com/2018/05/06/scootergeddon-three-scooter-companies-one-exploitative-labor-model/

Iris I Was An Owl It would be a hoot. The theme is Birds. #joinindaily with Johnny Wills

Best Foot Forward Or the Case Of The Awkward Oxford. In the Era of Strong Men, Diplomacy is Dead. #NotRightFoods http://www.ibtimes.com/why-did-benjamin-netanyahu-serve-shinzo-abe-dessert-shoe-2678867

Copiers and Elephants Never Forget. Originally shared by Edward Morbius Digital Photocopiers Loaded With Secrets ...Nearly every digital copier built since 2002 contains a hard drive - like the one on your personal computer - storing an image of every document copied, scanned, or emailed by the machine. In the process, it's turned an office staple into a digital time-bomb packed with highly-personal or sensitive data.... It took Juntunen just 30 minutes to pull the hard drives out of the copiers. Then, using a forensic software program available for free on the Internet, he ran a scan - downloading tens of thousands of documents in less than 12 hours. The results were stunning: from the sex crimes unit there were detailed domestic violence complaints and a list of wanted sex offenders. On a second machine from the Buffalo Police Narcotics Unit we found a list of targets in a major drug raid.... Data are liability, Photocopier edition. Makes for some inteeresting scenarios.... http...

Tutoring https://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2018/may/07/stranger-than-fiction-ian-mcewans-son-got-a-c-in-an-a-level-essay-about-one-of-his-fathers-books

Did Anybody Talk To Steve Albini? "Do you have a viewpoint on the streaming vs. physical media debate?" "Sure. For anything that matters and I'll want to have around forever, I want a record. For casual listening I think streams are great. Super convenient both for listeners and bands trying to get their music out. If you're talking about money, then I side with the listeners. I don't think you should have to pay to listen to something. That just seems like a normal, decent position." "There won't ever be a mass-market record industry again, and that's fine with me because that industry didn't operate for the benefit of the musicians or the audience, the only classes of people I care about." "Have you ever regretted not taking royalties on the albums you've produced?" "No. I don't take royalties because I am ethically opposed to them as a means of compensation. I think they unfairly siphon money from a band wh...

The Pecking Patriarchy There are rescue dogs, saved from abusive owners and placed in loving homes. Then there is Payo. He is a rescue rooster. He was doomed to die in a Santería ceremony. Just as his neck was to be slit, Payo’s adoptive family swooped in. They persuaded the priest to sacrifice another animal. They brought Payo home and set him free in the backyard. And this is where the sweet story of the pet rooster ends. Because sleep-deprived neighbors don’t call the big white bird with the blood red eyes by his nickname. They call him El terrorista. The terrorist. “Alfred Hitchcock could make a scary movie about him,” said Michael Demarziani, co-owner of Rincon Argentino restaurant, where Payo struts up to outdoor diners, sticks out his beak and demands food. “That is one rogue rooster. I swear he’s got fangs. I told my customers that one of these days we’re going to serve fried chicken.” "...you really don’t want a rooster," Wood said. "He has to be the dominant ma...

Four Wheels Good, Two Wheels Bad Originally shared by Damn interesting https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2018/05/01/anita-kurmann-bicycle-crash-boston/

Tally Hoe http://catandgirl.com/its-a-long-tail-life/

Ties The Room Together http://comicskingdom.com/zippy-the-pinhead/2018-05-07

Inverse Square Club “We’re the only club event in the world where someone was rushed to hospital because they’d forgotten to take their drugs." via Assia Alexandrova https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/j5az48/this-nightclub-for-the-elderly-is-fighting-loneliness-with-tea-party-raves

The Man Who Saved Pinball https://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/roger-sharpe-stern-pinball-chicago/Content?oid=47049643

Get A Room! via Tim O'Brien Originally shared by Ed Christian

Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't? http://www.didthanoskill.me/ Originally shared by Tim O'Brien

Journey To The Center Of The Earth Centralized Plumbing Is Magic. Originally shared by Assia Alexandrova The essence of a city is the way it manages its garbage. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/city/waste-management?utm_source=BackMatter05062018&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WasteManagement

Born From A Bicycle Crash https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/style/madeleine-author-illustrator.html

Interval Training AKA Binary Orneriness. One space between each sentence, they said. Science just proved them wrong! Science! via Edward Morbius I'll just point out that many of the same folks who advise us to "trust the system" of perfectly designed automatically proportional spacing in body text, don't even think twice (heh) about tweaking kerning in "artistic" magazine layouts or logos, where we're supposed to trust their even keener and more discerning artistic dezziner eyes. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/05/04/one-space-between-each-sentence-they-said-science-just-proved-them-wrong-2/

All The News That's Fit To Monetize Who Would Take Free (As In Beer) To A Riot? FaceMash Would. FaceMash Does. And Then Blames The Brewers. Originally shared by John Wehrle Sometimes it's easier to see your own problems when they are played out in someone else's life. For many, if not most, Sri Lankans Facebook is the internet. That didn't happen by accident. It was the result of a concerted effort by Facebook begun in 2013 to bring the internet to many more people around the world. Here's Zuck's introduction to the project: https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.2365-6/12057105_1001874746531417_622371037_n.pdf?_nc_cat=0&oh=a6aa766e7f02de936d323d7e417c22c4&oe=5B52DE27 But that increased access to the internet had a distinctly Facebook-flavor. So much so that in 2015 researchers were noticing that a significant numbers of people in developing countries knew they used Facebook but did not know they were also using the internet. Why? Facebook is “ofte...

Stillsuit Also, Fremen Funeral Rite, "giving moisture to the dead." Originally shared by Rod Uding A punchline I didn't want to know about. Eww. https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/clown-humor

FakeBook Originally shared by ****

Born Under Punches "We're kind of in this Black Panther moment with the way everything is unfolding in the world," Bhasker says. "And with things like Donald Trump's 'shithole countries' comments, this album needs to drop, like, right now." [The Talking Heads] Remain in Light has occasionally come up in conversations about cultural appropriation over the years, but Kidjo says it isn't her intention to address that. "We are all from one human family," she says. "If you know our history on this Earth, you would never talk like that. We are all mixed. The light inside of you, you don't know it until it comes out and you won't even be thinking about it. For me, music is there for us to tap into, as long as you respect who did it before and share. Acknowledgement has always been part of the problem of cultural appropriation, so if you take something from someone, just acknowledge it. And [the Talking Heads] were open about how F...

Shooting Blanks “In this generation everybody’s fascinated with guns,” said Jarret McClain, a paintballer in Durham, North Carolina. “But if you got paintball guns and you know nobody can get hurt and it won’t cause nobody’s family to cry, at the end of the day it becomes fun shooting at people.” McClain credits the Atlanta rapper 21 Savage with sparking the recent wave of interest in paintball after he posted a number of videos to social media in early April calling for “guns down, paintballs up” as an alternative to gun violence. McClain said it’s been effective too, and that his crew had already settled three separate vendettas with other groups through paintball. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/05/savage-21-paintball-wars-trend-gun-violence These folks are obviously not History Majors: Codes duello regulate dueling and thus help prevent vendettas between families and other social factions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_duello via Cara Evangelista https://www.t...

Zero Operational Availability Equals Infinite Cost Per Deployment http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2018/05/of-eleven-littoral-combat-ships-commissioned-zero-deployed-in-2108/ As the article mentions, the comments at USNI are gold: https://news.usni.org/2018/05/01/navy-accepts-delivery-of-latest-littoral-combat-ship-uss-tulsa-lcs-16 http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2018/05/of-eleven-littoral-combat-ships-commissioned-zero-deployed-in-2108/

As Reliably Open As A Waffle House http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/05/04/the-open-secret-of-charlie-rose/ http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/05/04/the-open-secret-of-charlie-rose/

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake With Duke's, of course. https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/chocolate-mayonnaise-cake-recipe https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/chocolate-mayonnaise-cake-recipe

Seelonce Mayday https://www.wwaytv3.com/2018/05/03/coast-guard-warns-of-no-offshore-radio-communications-along-nc-coast/ https://www.wwaytv3.com/2018/05/03/coast-guard-warns-of-no-offshore-radio-communications-along-nc-coast/

No Tickee No Washee An interesting and learned treatise about the phrase, and related topics of racism and humor: http://webpages.uidaho.edu/special-collections/papers/notickee.htm Originally shared by Al Tlön Tom Gauld Via http://myjetpack.tumblr.com/post/173477546715/for-newscientist

Skylark Smith Born #onthisday in 1890. Father of Space Opera, battling Evil throughout the Universe, starting with "Blackie" DuQuesne, and going on to Helmuth "speaking for Boskone." Can't really have a good space battle without "violet lambent beams of unimaginable force rending the very fabric of spacetime."

#WordlessWednesday #wordlessonwednesday Also Johnny Wills #joinindaily Today's theme is Beautiful Blue.

Competency Testing Competency is High Religion in my Tribe, at least partly because Real Actual Physical Danger and Lasting Solutions to Meaningful Problems require Competency. Plus, Experting is Fun! But Leadership, especially Good Leadership, is hard to quantify, hard to identify , especially in its nascent stages. In some ways, I think our current struggles are about the difficulties of Managing to Scale. Our modern society is quite large, complex, and interdependent. Mucking about with sabots, either as an expert, or as an eejit, is Dangerous. However, there are consequences with the Persistence of Things As They Always Were. Our current Eejit In Chief, on the surface, has laudable goals, making America great, draining the swamp, etc. The problem? Trying to implement those goals without competency breaks things and hurts people. The damage is compounded when your insincerity is exposed, and it becomes clear that you are trying to help your friends, and screw everybody else. ...

A Thrall No Longer It's always entertaining, when the Privileged become Enlightened, and the Revolutionaries Sell Out. I'm still fonder of the latter, because it is a relatively painless way of effecting Reparations. The problem is, too many of the "Revolutionaries" don't actually come from the marginalized peoples. The ones that do, don't often live long enough to get any reward. Originally shared by **** McCain writes that this will be his last term in the Senate, a fact he said a brain cancer diagnosis forced him to admit last year. “I’m freer than colleagues who will face the voters again. I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry,” McCain writes. http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/385540-mccain-torches-trump-in-new-book-he-places-the-appearance-of-toughness-over?rnd=1525117407 Via https://twitter.com/thehill/status/991297466472509440?s=19