Month: July 2012

  • The Most Evil Lie

    “The idea that work – that is, doing things that you otherwise wouldn’t do in exchange for money or resources – is intrinsically and morally good is possibly the greatest, most successful, most evil lie ever fashioned by our culture. It is so deeply and fundamentally embedded in the foundations of society that we can’t […]

  • Local Business vs Megachain

    “Because the local store is more likely to recycle its profits into the community, rather than shipping them off to a CEO on the other side of the country. Because while efficiency is good for stockholders, it is generally bad for employees. Local businesses tend to employ more people than a big box. A hardware store […]

  • When the Hammer Falls

    “Here is what I would expect: “1. You won’t recognize it as it’s happening, and most people will strive as much as possible to ‘normalize’ the process because it’s very scary. So everyone will start saying that if someone is arrested or beaten they must be an “agitator” or a “scrounger”. People will talk about […]

  • Birthers Are Racists

    “Asking questions about Obama’s past gets you called a racist. No, continuously questioning his citizenship despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary gets you called a racist.” Commenter on MetaFilter

  • Mass Transit and For-Profit

    “High-speed rail is NOT profitable. Nor are the interstates, highways, roads and bridges that make up the massive majority of our publicly funded transportation infrastructure. Mass transit doesn’t need to be, nor should it be, run in a for-profit business model.” Commenter on a Metafilter thread about high-speed rail in the US

  • Nail That to Your Bedpost

    “‘I seem to have fallen in love with someone else. I’m moving out.’ … Finally, she agreed to meet me in a pub in the West End. A bustling, crowded, very public place. I suppose we both thought that would help reduce the possibility of unseemly emotional scenes – not that she was really given […]

  • Netflix's Mistake

    “I don’t know if it’s the usual track for businesses and I’m sure I’m oversimplifying, but I seem to see this a lot over and over again: 1. Let’s start a business in sector Y. We will differentiate ourselves by doing X! 2. Wow, things are going really great! People seem to really respond to […]

  • ACORN as Bain

    “I’m just trying to imagine if Obama had been listed as the Chief Executive Officer of, say, ACORN, but then he tried to insist that he had not actually been involved with ACORN, despite having attended several board meetings and of course dutifully filling out legal proper paperwork listing himself as the CEO. The rage would […]

  • Damaged Male Comedy

    “I had an inkling that standup had some boyzone problems but it wasn’t until I started plumbing the depths of PNW open mics that the full scope of the problem came into focus, the extent to which the Damaged Male dominated this artform. I would warrant that any of you could go to any open […]

  • Testing posting thru iPhone