Doves, Hawks and Dodo Birds

Vox has an interesting article pointing out the relative hawkishness of the American public vs. the International Relations scholars. Below is the graph:



It seems we have learned very little from 20 major wars, according to George Carlin.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

America’s biggest gun problem is the one we never talk about

by Dylan Matthews and Estelle Caswell on August 11, 2015

There is a gun for nearly every person in America. The overwhelming majority of people who die from guns in the US do not die because someone shot them — they die because they shot themselves.

*****

 Guns killed 33,636 people in the United States in 2013. But while homicides and mass shootings dominate the headlines, nearly two-thirds of those deaths — 21,175 — were suicides. That's the real gun problem in the US, and we barely ever talk about it.

Another public health truth update for the doubters.

Guns, cars and money bring out the worst in people.

Captain Blackheart Dives Again

Russia's Stunt-Loving Putin Rides to Bottom of Black Sea

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSAUG. 18, 2015, 12:20 P.M. E.D.T.

Where is the Flying Spaghetti Monster when we really need it?

MOSCOW — Another summer, another trip to the bottom of a sea for Russia's adventure-loving president.
Vladimir Putin climbed into a three-seat submersible craft Tuesday to check out an ancient sunken ship found recently in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea — the peninsula annexed by Russia last year from Ukraine. He descended 83 meters (272 feet) to see the remains of the Byzantine trading ship, which he said dated back to the 9th or 10th century.
On previous trips deep underwater, Putin has explored the Gulf of Finland and Lake Baikal in submersibles. He also went scuba diving in the Kerch Strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, where he brought up fragments of ancient Greek jugs, or amphorae, that his spokesman later admitted had been planted.

 

Yup. I can see it now. Putin and The Donald with their fingers up their asses, um, on the Button. There goes my Social Security

The Stickiness Of Prejudice

We are hearing a thunder of voices pointing out wage and price stickiness is the reason for our present economic conundrum, I have nothing useful to contribute to that wonkish discussion. Yes, there may be an adjustment period in order to reach some sort of sustainable economic regime, but the composition of that adjustment should be proportionate. The question I want to ponder is the stickiness of prejudice and the most obvious costs or benefits of this semi-visible phenomenon . This is a horribly disproportionate problem, mainly affecting people on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

Police State or Safer State?

The Donald and The Duck

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

Donald Trump is a showman of extraordinary guile and aggressiveness, but he is certainly not Presidential material. A misogynistic, racist 1 percenter, he would sell US all out for a round of applause. Anyone who thinks he is a man of the people, just is not thinking, which places them firmly in The Donalds territory.

On the other hand, it is fun to watch our scurrilous national politicians panic at the thought of kowtowing to a steaming pile of shit.

The overriding question is, "Who will be the Porky of the GOP?"

Porky's Duck Hunt (1937) by voiceman91