It ain't me

This cut from the summer's Latin tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival, Quiero Creedence, just might get Rebel Girl through the election season. Maybe. Play loud.

Yes, that is a Donald Trump piñata being dragged by the little girl.

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Trollery is Assholery

Trolls are generally loutish and
cowardly, hiding behind anonymity

     Many online sites are responding to the problem of nasty trolls by shutting down their comments section à la NPR. Some sites (NYT online) heavily edit or moderate comments. We've generally left our comments sections alone, but it ain't easy letting IDIOTS have their say. Let's see how they respond to this!

Goodbye to the Loudest Drunk in NPR’s Online Bar
(Moyers & Co.)
     Once seen as a way to democratize the media, news site commenting sections have become playgrounds for nasty trolls.

…As NPR’s ombudsman from 2007 to 2011, I know firsthand how futile and frustrating comments sections are. Even though NPR had a sign-up system, and hired an outside moderator to check comments before posting, a listener could still create an alias and write whatever he (and it was usually men) liked. The comments were often mean-spirited and did little to foster civil conversation.
. . .
The trolls who rule the comment seas may actually have won because they often scare away people with their vicious attacks. An infinitesimal number of NPR’s 25 to 35 million unique monthly users bothered to join story-page conversations.
. . .
The New York Times handles comments by strategically opening up only 10 percent of its stories for comments and then heavily moderates the debate.
. . .
“We have the ability to find the worst people on our sites,” said Losowsky [head of the Coral Project, an effort to respond to the problem]. “But there’s almost nothing that really helps find the best people. So what you have is the best commenters feeling like they are not getting attention from the newsroom. And they are not. You need to celebrate the best comments and find and encourage those people to do more.”
. . .
After over a decade of stagnation in comment sections, the Coral Project or, Hearken, which allows journalists to partner with the public, may be what’s needed to shift the debate from negative to positive, listen more to the audience and enhance the conversation for those who want to be involved….

• On embracing your own facts 
(OC Blue Philosopher)

     ...I'm reminded of a curious chapter in the anti-tax movement. Ronald Reagan, of course, is an anti-tax hero among Republicans. In fact, however, he did raise taxes. But he was inclined to deny this fact....

• Ann Coulter flips out over Trump’s immigration flip-flop as she releases new book, “In Trump We Trust”
(Salon)

...“Everywhere I go, I get the same reaction. They want toughness, they want firmness, they want to obey the law. But — but, they feel that throwing them out as a whole family when they’ve been here for a long time, it’s a tough thing. They do feel that,” Trump added....

The SOCCCD: no unmanned aircraft systems allowed!

     Earlier today denizens of the South Orange County Community College District received the above bulletin.

     Better listen up, we were told, 'cuz this will "impact your work and teaching practices."
     The upshot: YOU CAN'T FLY YOUR DRONES AROUND HERE NO MORE.
     Drones? Do instructors and other employees own and operate drones in this district? Really?
     Am I the only instructor left who's sans drone?
     WTF?

I bet ol' Bob's got a truckload of these things.

UPDATE:

7:20 writes

Please read the announcement again. Drones are not outlawed. You simply need appropriate certification.

     Right you are, 7:20. Frankly, I didn't—and still don't—take any of this seriously. To me, that a college district would warn instructors not to fly their drones "on District premises" unless they get the right paperwork is hilarious. But, for some, I guess it isn't. So some of you better get the right papers so you can fly your, um, UASs on campus. You've only got three days! Achtung!

Sing-a-long Thursday: "When they say, 'we want our America back,' Well, what the fuck do they mean?"

When they say, “we want our America back”,
Our America back, our America back.”
When they say, ” we want our America back”
Well, what the fuck do they mean?

Remember the garden of Eden?
Before eve hung out with that snake?
You could walk down the streets not worry bout thieves
All the kids could go trick or treating.
Then those foreigners started coming in
Like the Germans in 1790
Then the Irish arrived, the potato blight
The neighborhood started changing

Life was better, we lived right,
Life had a paler shade of white, when they sing
“We want our America Back”

Before there was Ellis island
And that statue we got from the French
That whore’s still alerting, with strangers she’s flirting
Inviting them into our beds
The guineas, the coolies, the wetbacks, the reds
The Jews, now those terrorists
And who let in the woman who looks after my kid
And the one who is cleaning my mess?

Before the gays had their agenda, before the slaves were free
Before that man from Kenya took the presidency

Life was so righteous, life was so clean.
Send 'em all back including me
When they say, “we want our America back”,
Our America back, our America back.”
When they say, ” we want our America back”

Well, what the…fuckk do they mean?

- by the wonderful Jill Sobule!

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More Emails Show Clinton Foundation Ties to State Department (Democracy Now)

     Hillary Clinton is facing questions after a new round of emails released Monday again reveal the close ties between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state. The 725 pages of emails were released by the conservative group Judicial Watch, which obtained them through a Freedom of Information Act request earlier this year. They show Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, corresponding with multiple Clinton Foundation donors, including Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain, whose scholarship program committed $32 million over five years to the Clinton Global Initiative. He was seeking a meeting with Hillary Clinton. Another email shows Abedin corresponding with a Los Angeles-based sports executive who had donated between $5 million and $10 million to the foundation. He wanted help getting a visa for a British soccer player. The visa was never granted. On Monday, Bill Clinton said he would remove himself from the board of the foundation if Hillary Clinton becomes president.

Review: ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Time-Travels to Silicon Valley’s Dawn (NYT)

One of my faves.