Good Commenting / Parenting / Living

Honesty is always the best policy. (Except when it isn't.) Big shouts to this comment on my post about that wonderfully catchy version of I Took a Pill in Ibiza.

The comment: nice jam. but f me what I would not give for a pill in ibiza. more than I should admit
 //
Pure truth to power right there. Who among us would not do the same? Only a very few.

Remix of a Remix: I Took a Pill in Ibiza by Kiso ft. Kayla Diamond

This is a pretty good jam. Yeah it's a remix of a remix but it's got some bounce and the vocal is good. Plus a free download. Can't ask for more than that. 

Mocked and Forgotten: The White Working Class

Politics in America are more divisive than ever, in part because people that have been voting against their interests (the white working class) are finally, after generations of getting shit on by business-friendly GOP politics, noticing that maybe they should consider other candidates. Of course supporting a candidate that you loathe for whatever reason (he's black, she's a woman, he's a 'socialist') is unattractive for many reasons, not least is that admitting you are wrong about something is not typical human behavior. 

Which brings us to this from Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/24/white-working-class-issues-free-trade-american-south

There's a lot to unpack here, but he opening pull quote "Nothing happened to them..." is astounding in its short-sightedness. Voting Republican happened to them, and continues to happen to them. Reagan happened to them, and a Bush happened to them (three times), and however many congressmen and senators and state government and local government happened to them. Scott Walker continues to happen to them, right now. I would be angry too. Being broke is hell in America.

Hat tip to Jeffy for article, and for being the original recipient of the third paragraph. 

RIMAC Comes Through

This was on the internet. For once I don't have anything snarky to say. It's just a nice story of a company that did some innovative things with battery development helping out a guy in a significant way.

It's Political, Plus Bonus Words on that Toad Scalia

Antonin Scalia

There is a lot of political campaigning going on right now. Big election in November, if you hadn't heard. All of it is enough to give any reasonable person a headache, although watching the GOP implode under the weight of the racism and aggressive ignorance they have been peddling for the past eight years while Obama has been in office is fascinating theater.

I was astonished at how weak the Republican candidates were when Obama ran for election in 2008. The field has only gotten worse since then, and this most recent cast of idiots (Rubio, Cruz, Trump Drumpf, Carson, et. al.) is a marvel for the breadth and depth of their unlikeability. You have to go some distance to be more repulsive than a craven power monger like Hilary Clinton and yet they manage all that and then some.

It's weird when you step outside the echo chamber and discover that a person like Trump has a lot of popular support. He's a bully and an egomaniac and an asshole but for some reason people think that makes for a good leader. Bullies are terrible leaders, but they make small people feel good. Trump is Whitey Bulger with a better head start in life. Trump is a joke but the American voting public loves a good joke, which is why they elected G.W. Bush. Twice.

I had a person that I otherwise respected tell me with a straight face that Barack Obama was the worst president in modern history. I'm not sure how you reach that conclusion objectively as it ignores the fact that one of the main reasons Obama was able to get elected was that he replaced the actual worst president in modern history. But that's the narrative that Fox news is peddling. And if people are willing to believe that nonsense then a Trump presidency probably sounds pretty good to them.

The United States was founded as an oligarchy for a reason. People are dumb, and they get one vote, same as you.

Also, while I'm sharing some feedback on Politics: Antonin Scalia died and not a moment too soon. I never said a good word about that man while he was alive and I don't intend to start now. He was buried with great ceremony by that bigotry and ignorance think tank, that pederast-protecting and enabling institution that he so loved, the Catholic church.

Scalia was a pompous, arrogant toad that reveled in his own importance. The Catholics LOVED him like no other. As a true believer that never let the law get in the way of his closely held religious beliefs he was no better than a mullah or a rabbi that uses his holy book to guide his interpretation of the law. He sat on the court and flew that regressive Catholic flag for a generation, held back legislation for equal protection under the law.

His legacy will be that of Henry Billings Brown, who I had to look up because he is the asshole that wrote the majority opinion on Plessy vs. Ferguson ("separate but equal"). He's dead now and good riddance. Hopefully we can get someone on the court that isn't a steaming pile of shit. 

Two Hours of Jams: Pretty Pink - Deep Woods Live Set

I know that one post a week isn't really cutting it but not much to report these days. No news is good news when things are good. And things are good, so: no news is good news. 

SKT T1 won the IEM tournament, which we can all agree is good news. Filed my taxes and was happy-ish to see that my tax return was almost exactly as much as the thousands of dollars of work I just had done on my German Sports Sedan. Maybe happy is not the right word. Glad. I was gladdened. Kind of.

That's enough banality. Here's two hours of music that you can stream for free on the internet. What a wonderful time to be alive.