The mind reels.
You won’t mind the strip search after the pepper spray and tasing
On Monday, the court astoundingly ruled — 5 Republican appointees to 4 Democratic appointees — to give police carte blanche on strip-searches, even for minor offenses such as driving without a license or violating a leash law. Justice Stephen Breyer’s warning that wholesale strip-searches were “a serious affront to human dignity and to individual privacy” fell on deaf ears. So much for the conservatives’ obsession with “liberty.”
Men in Black – NYTimes.com – Maureen Dowd
[hat tip to Pat Lyford]
Paul Ryan’s budget – Dickensian and Orwellian in one package
How come you can legislate morality (or one narrow perspective of such), but you can’t legislate healthcare?
The abqjoural’s headline was right on: Ryan’s Latest Budget Plan a Fiasco-in-Waiting for GOP.
Paul Ryan’s budget hurts the poor – The Washington Post by Dana Milbank
Ryan’s justification was straight out of Dickens. He wants to improve the moral fiber of the poor. There is, he told the audience at the conservative American Enterprise Institute later Tuesday, an “insidious moral tipping point, and I think the president is accelerating this.” Too many Americans, he said, are receiving more from the government than they pay in taxes. …
Ryan warned that a generous safety net “lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency, which drains them of their very will and incentive to make the most of their lives. It’s demeaning.”
How very kind: To protect poor Americans from being demeaned, Ryan is cutting their anti-poverty programs and using the proceeds to give the wealthiest Americans a six-figure tax cut.
Ryan’s budget outline omits specifics about how much he would take from programs. Instead, it provided a string of Orwellian euphemisms. The budget “repairs the safety net” by allowing the states to award public assistance to fewer people — “those who need it most.” Financial aid for college would be slashed — er, “put on a sustainable funding path.” And the Ryan plan would give workers “the tools to thrive in the 21st century” — by killing off various job-training programs.
Ryan would cut Medicaid by a third and ship the remnants to state governments to handle. Or, as the congressman described it: “We also propose to strengthen Medicaid by empowering our states.” …
Such a coupling — tax cuts that disproportionately help the rich and spending cuts that overwhelmingly hurt the poor — makes Ryan’s budget a political loser. His patronizing justification — that he is cutting support for the poor and the old in order to help them — adds insult. “If we have a debt crisis, then the people who get hurt the first and the worst are the poor and the elderly,” he reasoned.
And Ryan thinks the eventual Republican presidential nominee will campaign on this plan? “I’ve spoken to all these guys,” Ryan assured reporters, “and they believe that we are heading in the right direction.”
This explains a lot about the Republicans’ difficulty.
Artistic director records “music” from inside a head of lettuce. [Thanks for the quote marks.] #qotd
Photo caption in Abqjournal.
The Dell Debacle – Verified by Visa
I’ve lived at my current address for nearly 25 years. I’ve had my Visa card for nearly 30 years. In all that time, I’ve had two phone numbers until very recently. I don’t recall my phone number ever being a problem when using my Visa.
Two nights ago, I decided to buy a touchscreen monitor as part of my research for my book, Windows 8 for Seniors. After an hour online, I decided to buy a Dell monitor. I’ve owned several Dell computers. Merri loves her aging Studio Hybrid (no longer made).
Amazon couldn’t match Dell’s $30 discount or free 3 year warranty, so I decide to buy directly from Dell. I remember when Dell’s website was state of the art and extremely useful. Not so much anymore. I stepped through half a dozen marketing screens to buy my one item. I agonized over whether to spend $25 for one day delivery (I did). Several screens later, I learned that meant 1 day after shipping but that shipping would be in a week. Good grief. That really made me appreciate Amazon’s onscreen message that if I buy an item within x hours, I can have it the next day – not the day after a week from now. (As well as Amazon OneClick and Prime.) I grimaced and went on.
I filled in all the required information for billing and shipping. I noticed something I don’t remember seeing before: a phone number for the billing address. For quite some time, I’ve used my Google Voice number for purchases. However, Visa doesn’t have that number, so I entered the most likely number.
On the next screen, Verified by Visa appeared. As I understand it, this comes from my credit card issuer and is direct communication between us to guarantee that only I am making a purchase. I now wonder if Verified by Visa means anything, at least to Dell.
A confirmation screen appeared, followed by confirmation email. A week and a day from now, I would have my monitor. I went to bed.
The next morning, a new email alerted me that there was a problem processing my order, but not the nature of the problem. I checked the website, which only indicated my order was “in process.” I looked for an email address for customer service; no luck. Reluctantly, I clicked the Chat Now link. The resulting Web page informed this service is only available during certain hours. But it was within those hours, so why didn’t chat work? Sigh.
I girded my loins and called the 800 number. Richard answered. I gave him customer number, order number, and purchase number. I recited every bit of my address. I confirmed the last 4 digits of my Visa number. After a long pause, Richard said there was a problem with my billing address. That’s not possible, I said. Then give me the correct billing information, he said. I have. I did on the website. It was Verified by Visa. I’m sorry, he said (and sounded sincere). I don’t know why he didn’t offer to give me to a supervisor, except that he probably gets demerits for such.
I felt like screaming on a street corner, so I tweeted, “@Dell threw away a sale. My billing address is incorrect? They’re wrong. Take a lesson from Amazon, for gawd’s sake!” Minutes later, @Dell replied, “@mjhintonNM Sorry to hear about that! Hoping our @DellCares team on twitter can assist you with your order. We value your business!” Hey, that’s a positive step. Or so I thought before half a dozen direct messages with @DellCares (Scott). I emailed Scott all my billing address info. Eventually, I learned that there may have been a problem with my phone number and that “a Credit Card specialist” should take care of it.
I said to Scott, as I said to Richard and to you: it shouldn’t be this hard. Eighteen hours after Verified by Visa, three nice Dell employees couldn’t fix this. That’s enough time. I have a book to write and I have a touchscreen already, purchased hassle-free with my 30 year old Visa card.
Some people should not have dogs
I was walking Luke in the neighborhood this afternoon. I heard a couple of whistles and saw a small but muscular brindle pit-bull roaming up ahead, a man following, a second man farther behind. The pit-bull sees us and comes over slowly, head down, licking lips. "Is it friendly?," I ask. As the two dogs circle and sniff, the first man replies, "I don’t know. She’s not mine. I think she belongs to the people across the street." I watch, warily, trying to stay cool. "I don’t want to scare her or she might do something weird," he adds. Weird? Like attack my dog or me? Stay calm. The second man arrives, "I’m sorry, guys, my dumb-ass brother just picks up dogs off the street." He sports the finest prison-style, long baggy shorts falling off, revealing 8 inches of boxer shorts; white tank top; tats and beard that say don’t fuck with me. Just breathe. The thug grabs the dog hard by the collar. "She seems sweet," says the guy who needs new neighbors. "She’s not. She’s already tried to kill two of my dogs. I’m surprised she didn’t attack that dog." WTF?!!! He slaps her flank hard, holding her front legs off the ground by her collar. "That’s not gonna help," says the unbelievably nice guy who needs bars on his windows and doors, "that will just make her try to get away again." I think, speak, say something, confront the ignorant brute, confront the abuser. "She’s going to the pound as soon as possible. I can’t keep her in the yard. She’s already tried to kill two of my dogs.," he repeats. Meth’ll do that to you. Say, "she’ll be better off the sooner she gets away from you." No – we will. Shut up. Stay calm. Let the danger pass you by. Luke just grins and walks on. My hero.
Vigilant Cooper’s hawk in Altura Park
mjhinton posted a photo:
Cooper’s hawks seem to be nesting again in Altura Park, Albuquerque. There are at least 3 old nest along the south edge; one on the north side.