SAR #15356

We speak of 'the truth' as if there were such a thing.

When They're Right, They're Right: Bill Moyers noted that the Omnibus Spending Bill was just another handout to the 1% and big business. Perhaps he had in mind the section of the bill that prohibits the IRS from issuing any new rules on 501(c)(4) organizations - which are increasingly being used as corporate-funded political front groups pretending to be interested in social welfare measures. Bernie Sanders pointed out that if Sandra Bland had had the good sense to be born white instead of black "she would be alive today." Instead, a Texas grand jury declined to indict any of the cops who killed her.

Vocabulary Building: Today's word: 'schlonged' from the Yiddish 'schlong', a synonym for 'Trumped'.

Life, As We Know It: Arizona Republicans have chosen a creationist lawmaker who believes the earth was created 6,000 years ago and that the US government regularly sprays us with mind-controlling potions (that's what those so-called jet trails really are) to head up the legislature's education committee.

In Memoriam: The Texas AG says it would be illegal for colleges to ban guns from their dormitory because it would infringe on the rights of drunk freshmen to shoot up their dorm rooms and to kill a few noisy students now and then. Just like young Whitman did, 50 years ago.

Updater: A few days ago the general suspicion was that either the Chinese or the Russians were responsible for hacking Juniper's internet servers and scooping up US government data. Turns out it was most likely the NSA, spying on the US government. Ask 'em about Hilary's emails...

Data Point: In 2015, Illinois, under its Republican cut-taxes-and trim-the-budget Republican austerity program, remains the only state in the Midwest to have added more people to food-stamp rolls than to employment rolls during the recovery from the Great Recession. The magic of low government spending and low taxes will take a few more years to kick in. Be patient.

Unclear on the Concept: A US District Court has ordered the state-owned Bank of China to hand over customer data (a violation of Chinese law) or face a $50,000 a day fine. Quite how a court bailiff is going to get the money out of Beijing wasn't immediately clear, but sending in the Marines probably won't work. It hasn't for a long time.

Codetalker: Joining Error Code 401 (You ain't authorized access, bub) and 404 (unrecognized, you probably mistyped something) will be Error Code 451 (We decided you shouldn't be allowed to see this stuff) - to indicate that Big Brother has censored the site and your name and ISP number have been reported to the NSA, DHS and the sheriff.

Innocence Is Not A Defense: In California an appellate court has sided with Justice Scalia's view that provable innocence is not grounds to reverse a conviction and refused to permit examination of DNA evidence that might reverse a 42 year-old wrongful murder conviction. Guilty is guilty, facts be damned.