The Koch brothers have let it be known that they've got a billion in play money available for the 2016 White House race.
They've summoned their favoured candidates to California to figure out who they're going to bless with their generous financial support.
You'll notice that the Republican front-runner was not invited.
Maybe it's because he doesn't need their money?
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Progress; Toyota develops robot that can aid the elderly
Yup, that's something society desperately needs, a robot care-giver.
As the one or two regular readers of this blog will know, I'm a bit iffy on the concept of progress. Topless beer cans are one thing. (Speaking of which, being able to spy a cigarette butt in your beer is a pretty lame excuse for this invention. If you seriously wonder about your drinking companions dousing their cigarette butts in your beer, you probably shouldn't be drinking with them. If you can't remember if you doused your own cigarette butt in your beer, you've probably had enough anyway.)
But this Toyota invention is presented as some sort of Godsend. A robotic caregiver! Weehaa! Just what every elderly person has been dreaming of!
Mind you, "picking up after the elderly" is probably a ways down the list of what the elderly, of which cohort I'm on the margins of, are thinking about.
Sure, that's great...
I've needed one of those for at least the last forty years.
But can they wipe the drool off my face?
Can they change my Depends?
America has what, ten million plus officially unemployed?
And another ninety million plus "discouraged workers" not in the "labour market?"
But they need robots to care for the elderly?
Get the fuck outta here!
As the one or two regular readers of this blog will know, I'm a bit iffy on the concept of progress. Topless beer cans are one thing. (Speaking of which, being able to spy a cigarette butt in your beer is a pretty lame excuse for this invention. If you seriously wonder about your drinking companions dousing their cigarette butts in your beer, you probably shouldn't be drinking with them. If you can't remember if you doused your own cigarette butt in your beer, you've probably had enough anyway.)
But this Toyota invention is presented as some sort of Godsend. A robotic caregiver! Weehaa! Just what every elderly person has been dreaming of!
Mind you, "picking up after the elderly" is probably a ways down the list of what the elderly, of which cohort I'm on the margins of, are thinking about.
Sure, that's great...
I've needed one of those for at least the last forty years.
But can they wipe the drool off my face?
Can they change my Depends?
America has what, ten million plus officially unemployed?
And another ninety million plus "discouraged workers" not in the "labour market?"
But they need robots to care for the elderly?
Get the fuck outta here!
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Plump white politicos shake their booties to lure black votes at Toronto's Caribana/Carribean carnival
Where exactly did that "Carribean" stuff come from?
This party has been around forever and it's ALWAYS been Caribana...
Not "Carribean."
Be that as it may, the Toronto Sun, flagship of the SunPostMedia conglomerate, National Post pretensions notwithstanding, is full-on with the new nomenclature, as you can see here.
And what up with those two roly-poly white guys trying to snag a few votes here?
No harm in trying, I guess...
This party has been around forever and it's ALWAYS been Caribana...
Not "Carribean."
Be that as it may, the Toronto Sun, flagship of the SunPostMedia conglomerate, National Post pretensions notwithstanding, is full-on with the new nomenclature, as you can see here.
And what up with those two roly-poly white guys trying to snag a few votes here?
No harm in trying, I guess...
TPP fizzles
The corporate nabobs behind the drive to enmesh us in the Trans Pacific Partnership are having a tough time of it.
Seems some of their fellow nabobs feel unduly constrained by the obligations democracy has imposed on them. That's led a few of them to take contrarian positions for the simple reason that they know they'd have hell to pay in the next election.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The TPP pushers are down, but not out. They'll be back!
Remember, this is in the first instance an attempt to create an Asia-Pacific trade bloc that excludes China. As such, it'll be a convenient tool for the Americans when they're busy asserting their full-spectrum-dominance vis-a-vis Beijing. No serious person imagines that this TPP trading bloc will not be entirely dominated by the Americans.
Which is not to say that the money-grubbers in Canada or Chile or New Zealand or Malaysia don't see something to gain here. When we hear talk of "homogenizing" labour standards, environmental standards, and so forth, what do you suppose that means?
It means driving everybody to the lowest common denominator.
That's why the nabobs have worked so hard to keep these negotiations secret.
Seems some of their fellow nabobs feel unduly constrained by the obligations democracy has imposed on them. That's led a few of them to take contrarian positions for the simple reason that they know they'd have hell to pay in the next election.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The TPP pushers are down, but not out. They'll be back!
Remember, this is in the first instance an attempt to create an Asia-Pacific trade bloc that excludes China. As such, it'll be a convenient tool for the Americans when they're busy asserting their full-spectrum-dominance vis-a-vis Beijing. No serious person imagines that this TPP trading bloc will not be entirely dominated by the Americans.
Which is not to say that the money-grubbers in Canada or Chile or New Zealand or Malaysia don't see something to gain here. When we hear talk of "homogenizing" labour standards, environmental standards, and so forth, what do you suppose that means?
It means driving everybody to the lowest common denominator.
That's why the nabobs have worked so hard to keep these negotiations secret.
Erdogan takes Turkey over the cliff
When Erdogan officially joined the war on Islamic State last week, the move was widely heralded in Western media as a good thing.
After all, Turkey has been, unofficially, the most prominent facilitator of Islamic State heretofore. ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State/Daesh would not have been possible without the connivance of Turkey. Not that this fact was widely acknowledged in that same Western media.
I've long been a fan of the wily Erdogan. He seemed to think himself the reincarnation of Kemal Ataturk, and he conducted himself accordingly.
But if you've been paying attention, you've noticed that the much ballyhooed war on the Islamic scourge is nothing of the sort. What he's done is declared a war on them but instead opened a war on the Kurds.
This can only end badly for Turkey.
After all, Turkey has been, unofficially, the most prominent facilitator of Islamic State heretofore. ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State/Daesh would not have been possible without the connivance of Turkey. Not that this fact was widely acknowledged in that same Western media.
I've long been a fan of the wily Erdogan. He seemed to think himself the reincarnation of Kemal Ataturk, and he conducted himself accordingly.
But if you've been paying attention, you've noticed that the much ballyhooed war on the Islamic scourge is nothing of the sort. What he's done is declared a war on them but instead opened a war on the Kurds.
This can only end badly for Turkey.
Here's proof that "progress" is possible!
As a Luddite of long standing, I reflexively poo-poo every proclamation of this thing called progress.
Remember the "paperless office?"
Remember the "leisure society?"
Remember flying cars?
But I think I'm about to change my tune...
Check this out!
Yup, a topless beer can!
Not only does it allow the beer drinker to spy bugs and cigarette butts in her beverage; it lets you drink more!
That's gonna be the biggest boon to civilization since the heat-seeking missile!
Remember the "paperless office?"
Remember the "leisure society?"
Remember flying cars?
But I think I'm about to change my tune...
Check this out!
Yup, a topless beer can!
Not only does it allow the beer drinker to spy bugs and cigarette butts in her beverage; it lets you drink more!
That's gonna be the biggest boon to civilization since the heat-seeking missile!
Putin killed my puppy
The Putin haters are having a field day with the Litvinenko inquiry in London.
No one in London is safe from the Kremlin...
Indeed! Thousands of high-living Russian expats can't go to the grocery without constantly looking over their shoulders, because Putin's evil minions are EVERYWHERE!
In this particular case it's Yuri Felshtinsky sounding the alarm. Felshtinsky once wrote a book claiming Putin was a pedophile, thereby upping the ante on those mining the anti-Putin genre with tales of Putin's 40 billions or 400 billions squirreled away in secret Swiss bank accounts.
Or maybe it was 4 trillions...
It's a perennial favorite in the West, the anti-Putin trope.
Putin's perfidy...
Putin's aggression...
Those so-called punk-rockers Pussy Riot have milked the anti-Putin meme so skillfully they even got to share a stage with Madonna for a precious few moments!
Alas, all the hysteria doesn't seem to be making much of an impression in Russia. According to this recent story in the Washington Post, Putin's approval ratings are close to 90% among the folks he was elected by.
No wonder Cameron et al want us to hate him!
No one in London is safe from the Kremlin...
Indeed! Thousands of high-living Russian expats can't go to the grocery without constantly looking over their shoulders, because Putin's evil minions are EVERYWHERE!
In this particular case it's Yuri Felshtinsky sounding the alarm. Felshtinsky once wrote a book claiming Putin was a pedophile, thereby upping the ante on those mining the anti-Putin genre with tales of Putin's 40 billions or 400 billions squirreled away in secret Swiss bank accounts.
Or maybe it was 4 trillions...
It's a perennial favorite in the West, the anti-Putin trope.
Putin's perfidy...
Putin's aggression...
Those so-called punk-rockers Pussy Riot have milked the anti-Putin meme so skillfully they even got to share a stage with Madonna for a precious few moments!
Alas, all the hysteria doesn't seem to be making much of an impression in Russia. According to this recent story in the Washington Post, Putin's approval ratings are close to 90% among the folks he was elected by.
No wonder Cameron et al want us to hate him!
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