Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Satire

Why The Government Hates Conservatives

2 Comments

Frank J. explains:

You have to remember that the bureaucrats in government are a fiercely tribal people who base all their beliefs on an extreme ideology of government power. How did we think they’d react when we threatened to tear down all they know over some concept they’ve never even heard of — math? Did we think they’d really welcome us as liberators when we tossed them all out into the private sector — a scary world that demands things they can’t even understand, like productivity? No, of course not. Instead they did what seems logical to them: Fight against the invaders threatening them while rallying behind their supreme religious figure, President Obama.

Clearly they had it coming.

Administrative, Technology and Society

XFCE

10 Comments

Is there a doctor in the house? I decided to just go to Fedora 19 beta, since it’s going to be released in a few days anyway. It’s fine so far, except I’m running XFCE, and it refuses to give me a monitor size any larger than 1280×1040, so I’m losing about an inch on all sides with my 21″ LG.

I’ve changed the configuration in the settings editor to 1600×900, and the same in the display.xml file. But when I log out and back in again, it resets them to 1280×1040. I can’t find where in the system it’s getting this information, despite lots of grepping (is it misreading the signal from the monitor?), but it’s driving me nuts. And there doesn’t seem to be a configuration file for X any more.

Any ideas?

[Update a couple minutes later]

OK, it’s probably getting it from xrandr:

[simberg@linux-station ~]$ xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 1280 x 1024, maximum 1280 x 1024
default connected 1280×1024+0+0 0mm x 0mm
1280×1024 0.0*
1280×720 0.0
1024×768 0.0
800×600 0.0
640×480 0.0

So how do I force a change?

[Late evening update]

Yes, the problem is likely some driver or new version of X or something inf F19 foxtrotting things up, because Fedora 18 recognized my monitor no problem. Just not sure what to do about it.

[Sunday morning update]

OK, I installed the latest Nvidia drivers from RPMFusion, and all is now well. It’s a beautiful screen, in fact.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

If Palin Had Been President

7 Comments

Things would have been quite different.

I’m not sure about this one, though:

Palin’s IRS would not ask groups seeking 501(c)4 status about their prayer life.

These are all careerists, and have been with the agency through Republican and Democrat governments. I can easily imagine that they’d try to do it. But in a Palin presidency, when she heard complaints, she wouldn’t ignore them, and would at least try to rein in the bureaucracy, instead of encouraging it, as Obama has. And of course, in a Palin presidency, there would have have been a need for the Tea Party to arise.

Business, Economics, Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Student Loans

6 Comments

…subsidize waste:

When students have little hope of completing an academic program, subsidies are not just a waste of taxpayers’ money, but a waste of these young people’s time and effort at a crucial age. Too often, they drop out with a sense of failure, poor work habits, and perhaps a sizeable debt.

In an era of scarce resources, ending pure need scholarships may cause low-income students to make wiser choices about their futures. It would be far better if, instead of floundering in an academic institution, they learned a trade, entered the military, or gained work experience. If they really wish to pursue a bachelors’ degree, they can prove themselves worthy of scholarship money by taking classes at low-cost community colleges first.

Like most well-intentioned government programs, this is a disaster.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

So Who Hacked Atkisson’s Computer?

8 Comments

Thoughts from Ace:

This is obviously a politically-motivated crime, not a personally- or economically-motivated one. That doesn’t mean the government had anything to do with it, but it certainly seems that someone favorably inclined towards the government did.

Perhaps one of those legions encouraged to “get in their faces,” like the staff of the IRS.

Hacking is a federal crime, is it not? Can we expect Robert Mueller to get his Top Men (whoever they are, he doesn’t know) on this like he did with the IRS scandal?

As he says — means, motive, opportunity. I’d bet on someone at DOJ.

I think that when we find out about everything, it’s going to make Watergate look like a parking ticket.

More thoughts from Peter Kirsanow:

The burden of proof remains with government officials to explain why, on any proposition, large or small, they deserve our trust. But recent events show they should be required to convince us even beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to do so any time in the foreseeable future.

I hope that the Republic is saved by this overreach, if it’s not too late.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Looking at her Twitter feed. This was done by a professional.

[Update a couple more minutes later]

Did they spy on Romney’s campaign computers, too?

At this point, what reason do we have to think not?

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

The Bozo Leviathan

4 Comments

…blunders on:

If you had the misfortune to be blown up by the Tsarnaev brothers, and are now facing a future with one leg and suddenly circumscribed goals, like those brave Americans featured on the cover of the current People magazine under the headline “Boston Tough,” you might wish Boston had been a little tougher on Tamerlan and spent less time chasing the phantoms of “Free America Citizens.” But, in fact, it would have been extremely difficult to track the Tsarnaevs at, say, the mosque they attended. Your Granny’s phone calls, your teenager’s Flickr stream, and your Telecharge tickets for two on the aisle at Mamma Mia! for your wife’s birthday, and the MasterCard bill for dinner with your mistress three days later are all fair game, but since October 2011 mosques have been off-limits to the security state. If the FBI guy who got the tip-off from Moscow about young Tamerlan had been sufficiently intrigued to want to visit the Boston mosque where he is said to have made pro-terrorism statements during worship, the agent would have been unable to do so without seeking approval from something called the Sensitive Operations Review Committee high up in Eric Holder’s Department of Justice. The Sensitive Operations Review Committee is so sensitive nobody knows who’s on it. You might get approved, or you might get sentenced to extra sensitivity training for the next three months. Even after the bombing, the cops forbore to set foot in the lads’ mosque for four days. Three hundred million Americans are standing naked in the NSA digital scanner, but the all-seeing security state has agreed that not just their womenfolk but Islam itself can be fully veiled from head to toe.

We have a government that’s doing all sorts of things that it shouldn’t be doing, and is utterly incompetent at both them, and the things it should be doing.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!