Re: Gothic Hallmark Greeting Cards!!
 

Did some smart ass at Ellis Island decide that your great great grandfather (who led troops for Garibaldi) should have his last name anglicized from “Motta” to “Motors”?

Kidding aside, it is a fucking national disgrace that Flint still doesn’t have clean water.

Re: Gothic Hallmark Greeting Cards!!
 

Get in line: http://fortune.com/2018/06/12/domino...nfrastructure/

Re: Gothic Hallmark Greeting Cards!!
 

I'm half Calabrese and daddy's UK side is named after a car company.

Flint is more complicated than that. I'm not sure the actual current state. It was always an interim problem that was supposed to be resolved once the new supply was flowing, which wasn't that far off.

Slapped my horse on the ass, with my last dying gasp, I said ...
 

It’s too bad that Paigow isn’t around to provide the appropriate whiff classification.*

I haven’t looked at the issue recently, but I believe that the new supply source is the problem. But I defer to your likely more informed view.

*Confidential to Hank - have you forgotten that I know what your last name is? Or are you pretending not to know me because my last referral stiffed your fee for your firm’s fine work in getting him a patent on his perpetual motion device?

Re: Slapped my horse on the ass, with my last dying gasp, I said ...
 

In the Trump era, one should never pass a chance to hype one's last name/brand, even if it is redundant to some.


edit- 33% of the people in America with my last name hit Ellis Island as Italians with a last name that translates to my last name (almost).

Re: Gothic Hallmark Greeting Cards!!
 

I just hope he comes back from Singapore with his pants.

Re: Slapped my horse on the ass, with my last dying gasp, I said ...
 

I believe the levels are back within the acceptable level. but money was authorized to replace tons of lead pipes. that is in process, and slated to be done by 2020; it isn't a finger snap. but the thing is, my home water pipes are lead. lots of older homes are that. I understand there is a scale that builds up to prevent leeching (removing the scale was the real start of flint's problem). But freaking out about lead pipes in Flint ignores that many many places have the same.

Re: We are all Slave now.
 

Need a small firm litigation lawyer in Atlanta- anyone know anyone?

Re: Slapped my horse on the ass, with my last dying gasp, I said ...
 

Isn't the issue that when they switched over to the Flint River as a source, the toxicity of that water destroyed the integrity of the aging pipes such that lead is now constantly being dispersed into the water system no matter the source? The only fix is to replace miles of pipeline, no? And the city (state?) has stopped supplying bottled water. Add to that the fact that they are charging people who cannot drink or bathe in the water exorbitant amounts because that's the only way the fix is being funded. City spokesperson said something like, "Well they're all still using the water for waste disposal," after being asked why people should pay huge bills for water they can't fucking use.

Also, they're saying water is once again potable, but I just watched a piece on this. It's definitely not.

TM

Are they assuming liability?
 

Re: We are all Slave now.
 

Michael Berube speaks the truth. All the time.

Re: We are all Slave now.
 

This is flattering, but I'd prefer a simple "Hank is right. Hank was right. Hank has always been right."

Re: We are all Slave now.
 

In the context of the piece, this was as wry as it was earnest. I don't think anyone seriously thinks this Presidency is going to stamp a boot on the face of democracy.

Most of the criticisms of Trump address his undermining of the press and the "institutions." This is a mixed bag that needs to be broken down a bit.

Regarding media, Trump's attacks on the First Amendment and suggestion we should adopt libel law similar to that of Great Britain are highly un-American. I'd call them downright treasonous. His more subtle undermining of the NYTimes and WaPo is not entirely unwelcome. It would be completely welcome if not for this: His embrace of Fox and Alex Jones. You can't call out the sometimes bullshitters and narrative slant artists at usually credible places like the NYTimes while celebrating the always-bullshitting crowd at Fox and the disgusting conspiracy theorists like Jones.

Regarding institutions, shining a negative light on federal law enforcement, which enjoys outrageous leverage over those it (often selectively) seeks to prosecute, and an often all-but-fixed forum in which to present its cases, is not a bad thing. Nor is it a bad thing to call out political prosecutions and investigations (Trump's hasn't been entirely political, but Menendez, McDonnell, and Bernie's wife have recently faced silly political witch hunts, and many others will continue to do so). Sadly, however, Trump's accidental positives on these issues are outweighed by having a vicious and abusive attorney general like Sessions, pardoning clearly guilty sorts like Libby, and endorsing proponents of cruel and abusive enforcement like Arpaio.

I attribute nothing good Trump has done in these regards to forethought. It's all of the "blind squirrel finding an acorn" variety. But I'll take what I can get with this guy. And these distinctions are worth noting.

Re: We are all Slave now.
 

How is it at all welcome? He calls them liars so that his followers won't believe it when they report the truth on him. That's not a good thing.

You can if your goal is to make yourself unaccountable.

Again, his goal is to make himself unaccountable. This does not come with "positives."

Re: We are all Slave now.
 

His intentions are not good things. Nor is the intended effect on his followers, who now think the NYTimes and WaPo are entirely fictional when it comes to Trump.

However, creating general skepticism of media is a good thing. Media outlets slant stories, and selectively report. Sometimes it's subtle (Times), sometimes not (Fox). People should read every news story, from every source, with some skepticism. They should think, and develop the capacity to spot and separate the narrative from the facts.

Again, his goals are not defensible. Any good I'm citing here is entirely accidental.

A positive, or negative, is an effect. If a positive effect accrues from a negative act, even as a sole positive effect among numerous negative effects, it is still a positive. Intent and effects are two unique buckets. They can be separated. And they are not inextricably intertwined because the positive may defend or excuse the negative (in fact, to argue that requires one to fall into a logical fallacy). It does not. The negative intent remains, and any negative effects remain apart from the positive, and the negative actor gets no credit for the positive. The positive just happens to be there. And one can cite it and say, "Most of what Trump has done is awful and done with terrible intent. However, there are these things that have happened by accident, as a result of acts taken in furtherance of his terrible aims, which are not awful."