Fri Jul 7 18:08:16 EDT 2017

What I heard:The President in a Hamburg at the G-20.
What was probably said:The President in, uh, Hamburg at the G-20.
Newscasters need to speak clearly and accurately. My hearing was plausible, except for (1) not being newsworthy and (2) who's ever seen Trump in a hat?

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Mon May 8 15:29:33 EDT 2017

America didn't turn racist with the Trump groundswell. America's always been racist, and some people are now feeling more permitted to be outspoken - or just to be themselves. Selves that others find offensive or repulsive, but selves that have always been there.

[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic- ( Read more... )

Sun Apr 2 23:44:51 EDT 2017

To the people who fly the Stars-and-Bars proudly, and think fondly of the days when negroes could be bought and sold, and certainly couldn't vote, I'd like to point out that most white Southerners were not so fat and happy back then. Just like today, some were well off, a few were very well off, and most were just ( Read more... )

Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2017 03:41:51 +0000

[Heard tonight on PRI's "The World"]:
Some Mexicans are boycotting Walmart to boycott buying American products, in response to Trump's plans for a wall.

Shopping at Walmart is not buying American. Have you gone to a Walmart and looked at where the merchandise is from? Shopping at Walmart is buying Chinese.

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Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2017 02:41:41 +0000

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Thu Jan 19 01:51:33 EST 2017 ( Read more... )

Thu Jan 12 00:47:35 EST 2017

Big story on the BBC tonight (other than (a) Trump's first news conference in 6 months, and (b) unsubstantiated claims that Russia has video and audio recordings that could be used to blackmail Trump) is Amazon Canada selling doormats with the image of the Indian flag. (I.e. the country, India.) The product has been ( Read more... )

Sat Jan 7 20:54:04 EST 2017

This afternoon I went out to shovel the sidewalk. We got a little snow overnight. It's powdery, and sweeping would have worked. Since one of the streets at our corner has been narrowed we have more sidewalk now in front of the house. I don't feel compelled to shovel it all clear; just to make a sufficient path. (It ( Read more... )

Thu Nov 24 13:40:24 EST 2016


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Thu Jul 14 11:38:56 EDT 2016Make America great again!
There's an implicit assumption that America was great before. America was never great for a lot of people. If your people were here before the European onslaught, and were driven off your ancestral lands and ravaged by exotic diseases, America stopped being great for you. If your people were ( Read more... )