Linkocity
A lot of interesting stories today, too many to comment upon:
1. Neil Genzlinger on the absurd proliferation of strip club scenes on television. As he points out, the problem with the scenes is not so much moral as it is that they are boring, lazy, and repetitive.
2. If you haven’t this Sabrina Rubin Erdely profile of the anti-gay climate of Anoka, Minnesota leading to a rash of gay teens committing suicide, do it. This is Michelle Bachmann’s district. The climate of hate she pushes trickles down to the public schools. The schools openly push hard-right evangelical values that vilify homosexuality. I don’t know Minnesota very well, so I can’t speak to why this area has so much hate. Would be curious to hear more informed people’s thoughts.
3. In case, the Anoka story didn’t make you angry enough, read Ari Berman on how the GOP is redistricting Southern states to not only destroy the Democratic Party but to resegregate the South.
4. When you think of Nevada, you probably think of a) Vegas, b) legal prostitution, and c) Vegas. But there’s a lot of land in Nevada outside of Las Vegas. And it’s populated by some very crazy people. Of course, Las Vegas is so much bigger than the rest of the state that Democrats can win the state and completely ignore everything outside of Vegas and the Reno/Carson City area.
6. The interesting “transpartisan” political coalition in Nebraska that brought down the Keystone XL Pipeline. Also, I really want to visit the Sandhills of Nebraska.
7. Corruption and cronyism in the Alaska Fish & Game Department is all too typical of how western states run their wildlife programs: for the wealthy who like to shoot things.
8. I like American jobs as much as anyone, but I don’t like this. Caterpillar is shutting down a Canadian plant where it had locked out workers last month and moving operations to its plant in Muncie, Indiana, where it can take advantage of cheap American labor.
It was the last straw when I saw that strip club scene on Sesame Street.
BTW, link 1 isn’t pointing to the right place.
Fixed it.
“Yes, a stripper is a person in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neigh-bor-hood….”
Isn’t it far more likely the other way around, that the prevailing attitude of the people manifests itself in their elected representatives?
They feed each other.
This. The loonies elect a loony, and then higher-profile loony encourages the expression of hither-to-fore supressed lunacy on the part of closeted loonies, and with the support she gets from her lunatic base, the head loony is encouraged to get loonier.
And then less loony but chickenshit public administrators say “but the leading looneys and their supporting looneys can’t all be wrong and besides, I’m scared of them, so all you faggy kids are on your own”.
This. It actually takes only a small but vocal minority of Jesus freaks to set cowardly administrators to panicking–unless you have an equally vocal pushback from the community, so that those same cowardly administrators know that they can be fired either way, and that discriminatory behavior opens them up to lawsuit.
Take-home lesson: it is vitally necessary to challenge religious types vocally and publicly, and not to extend them any courtesy because of their faith.
the weird pat is that Anoka, MN is Lake Wobegon.
The city of Anoka is tolerable. Most of the northern suburbs in Anoka County are white trash redneck heaven – Blaine, Coon Rapids, Andover, Pine City, East Bethel, Spring Lake Park, Ham Lake… The Anoka-Hennepin school district covers those suburbs.
I grew up in Fridley, & now live in St.Paul.
Here’s a wiki linky to Anoka County general data.
I have other problems with that sentence. Climates cannot be pushed. Things that are pushed are usually solid do not trickle. Now Erik tells me that this climate can “feed.” Dude you are mixing metaphors like Thomas Friedman.
Las Vegas poker rooms are full of Ron Paul crazies.
Otherwise known as fish. Antianalytical people who think they’re great strategists always make the best gambling opposition.
The Rolling Stone link reinforced my utter contempt for the theocratic right in general, and the Minnesota Family Council in particular. The odious Barb Anderson, featured prominently in the article, works for that organization, which was originally founded as the Berean League. Their founding purpose was to oppose repeal of MInnesota’s anti-sodomy law. They are fundamentally an anti-gay hate organization.
Yes, definitely, visit the Sand Hills. I’ve lived on the coasts my whole life except for a few years in Chicago, but have driven through Nebraska twice — the first time specifically to see what they were about, the second time specifically to return there. Hiking in the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge was an experience unlike any I’ve had in nature — like hiking in a desert sand dune field (like the Mojave or Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado) but with a cover of lush grass everywhere, and that strange feeling of cresting one hill to sense (without being able to fully see) that you’re in the midst of a vast extent of similarly undulating, grass-covered, and almost unpopulated beauty.
The Sand Hills are also beautiful from the air – where it’s clear that they are an enormous dune field. You don’t always automatically say “these are sand DUNES” when you’re down among them.
This. Not only are the Sand Hills fascinating on their own terms, but crossing Nebraska on US 20 or NE 92 & 2 is the best way I know to see the Midwest of corn and hogs morph into the West of cattle and cowboys.
I’m grew up in the sand hills in the western part of Nebraska and I highly recommend a visit. It’s peaceful, pretty, and the people couldn’t be nicer.
I’m always glad to go back for a short visit, but growing up there was like drowning in distilled boredom.
The Sandhills are stunning. Nebraska really doesn’t get enough credit for its natural beauty — so many people only experience I80 and think it’s just a boring, flat wasteland to get through as quickly as possible, but so much of the state is a natural wonderland. And don’t forget about Car Henge out near Alliance.
Everybody is right about this. We detoured up Rte. 2 in order to see and camp, and it was amazing. The tiny little towns that pop up every 20-30 miles are also interesting in their own right – relatively healthy, and so a rare opportunity to see small, rural American towns that aren’t ghostly or becoming suburbs.
Re: GOP Southern redistricting (and especially Texas)–is the DOJ currently confronting this? Couldn’t find much…
AFAIK, the VRA is only concerned with the number of minority-majority districts, which plays into the hands of Republicans. They are perfectly happy to maximize the number of minority-majority districts, which creates a minority of 70-90% Dem districts and a majority of 55-60% Rep districts.
I’ve eaten squirrels, it’s pretty damn good if you know how to cook it.
That’s just inconsiderate; your fellow Supraprimates don’t eat you.
No, his fellow Supraprimates can’t generally kill him. If they had the opportunity and the general dietary option, they bloody well would.
Don’t kid yourself Jimmy – if a squirrel ever got the chance, he’d eat you and everyone you care about.
I am quite fond of it as well. Really good fried or braised. For the uninitiated, it tastes rather like rabbit.
I like rabbit, but I can’t deal with the million tiny bones.
“I like rabbit, but I can’t deal with the million tiny bones.”
I feel this way about the aborted fetuses that I can no longer eat in Oklahoma.
Neil Genzlinger on the absurd proliferation of strip club scenes on television.
Awesome. I just love being described as a “thing” by some smug jerk up to his eyeballs in his male privilege, existing for his entertainment.
More info on Minnesota from a local.
Yes, the Sandhills are spectacular. If you ever do plan a trip out there I would recommend it in March or so that way it can coincide with the Sandhill Crane migration
Yup. The NE Sandhills are one of the few remaining strongholds for greater prairie chickens, whose displays in March/April are a must-see. And time your visit with a “dark-of-the-Moon” period; you’ve probably never seen a night sky so star-filled in your life.
When I was phone banking for Bachman’s opponent in last cycle’s elections, the call center was around there. Across the street was a bible themed golf course and housing development. It’s pretty weird.
Has anybody every did a crazy census and determined how many millions of Americans qualify as politically crazy? It might be useful information if we want to build a more left-leaning country.
27%.
It might be useful information if we want to build a more left-leaning country.
Well, here’s some info that might help you, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.
Looks like you’re outnumbered almost two to one.
Is the right wing troll suggesting that all conservatives are “politically crazy”?
Yes, yes he is.
And proving all at the same time.
Actually, I wanted to point out the vast overrepresentation the liberal left enjoys already.
Alaska, conservative senators per capita: 2/722,718.
California: quasi-liberalish senators per capita: 2/37,691,912.
Once again, Boob gets basic facts wrong.
What is this supposed to mean? It’s certainly true that many fewer people self-identify as liberal than as conservative. But this applies to politicians, too. I don’t think Obama has ever called himself a liberal, for instance. But there are many people who call themselves “moderate” who consistently vote for Democrats and support policies that an objective observer would describe as “liberal.”
I don’t think Obama has ever called himself a liberal, for instance.
That’s because he’s a hardcore Sharia school radical Marxist.
Bob you’re obviously committed to the trolling thing and you seem like a good enough kid so I’ll give you some advice: if you want to really make a name for yourself in this racket, the defining trait of your comments can’t be “stupidity”. C’mon, that’s no fun.
You have to push yourself and make your stuff either “crazy” or “filled with moral horror at the notion of people disagreeing with you”. Luckily you have two great examples of these models in Manju and Fritz, respectively.
Since this is a links post, and since the last Apple thread was a good few days ago, I’m posting this here for Erik.
“Although I know that the iPhone 4 is made at sweat shop factories in China, I still think that this is the only choice, because Apple is actually one of the best. Actually before I made a decision, I compared Apple with other cell phone companies, such as Nokia,” he said through a translator. “And the conditions in those factories are worse than the ones of Apple.”
It’s undeniable that Apple could do better than they do, but I always wonder at the efficacy of hammering companies after they’ve taken steps to improve. At some point, if you don’t reward good behavior, good behavior stops coming.
No–you have to keep hammering companies. You have to keep the pressure on. These people will never, ever do anything without outside pressure. If there’s one lesson in the history of labor, it’s that without constant pressure, the company will backslide.
Always amusing to see Paulistas working towards making this happen, for real. (And speaking of the Onion, I also found this amusing because of its actual plausibility; I can completely believe that Schilling, who voted for earmarks after campaigning against them, would be either that ignorant or that disingenuous.)