You haven’t had one of these lately, and it’s a newsy day locally, so here you go:
1. Metts resigns, agrees to plead guilty (thestate.com) — Thus ends 42 years as Lexington County sheriff. Here’s a copy of the plea deal, and here’s his resignation letter to Gov. Haley.
2. Taliban attack at Pakistan school kills at least 141 (WashPost) — And Pakistan retaliates by striking at Taliban (which would make the average, naive person ask, Why weren’t they doing that already?)
3. Apple wins $1bn iTunes court case (BBC) — The odd thing is that this is about Apple only allowing music it sells to be played on iPods. And Apple is about to quit making iPods. This case stems from events in 2006. Sort of shows that our court system is ill-equipped to make relevant, timely decisions on fast-changing technology.
4. Jeb Bush says he is ‘actively exploring’ run for presidency in 2016 (The Guardian) — I thought I’d go with the Guardian version because you just know they’ve gotta be thrilled at the idea of another Bush in the White House.
5. Columbia police chemist who was forced out fires back at city (thestate.com) — She’s sued the city for $3 million, and now she’s speaking out, among other things saying that her departure from her job is “absolutely” “about race.” That, and retribution.
6. Man breaks teacher’s arm in classroom (AP) — This happened in Orangeburg, in front of her 4th-grade pupils.
I am excited to announce I will actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States: https://t.co/luY4lCF2cA.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) December 16, 2014
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I have often disagreed with Barbara Bush, but she was right last year. Whatever one’s assessment of Jeb Bush as an individual, we don’tn need another Bush. The probability is high that there are better candidates out there. The underlying problem is not the distribution of ability, but of money. Only those with well-established donor networks can dream of running for president. Those whose immediate family have already served nationally are far more likely to have those networks. This can’t be good for our country.
Just on principle, I’d like for the presidency to not resemble a title that is inherited through blood or marriage.
On item no. 2: Actually, they were. The Taliban says the school attack was in retaliation for ongoing Pakistani military operations in North Waziristan.
Yes! I heard that this morning on NPR. At first, I thought maybe I had misread this headline in The Guardian, but I hadn’t: “Pakistan responds to Peshawar school massacre with strikes on Taliban.”
But yes, they were taking measures against the Taliban before that…
I am excited to announce I will actively explore the possibility of having a gyro for lunch today.
But do you have the fund-raising networks to support such a move?
Where has the best gyros?
IMHO, Devine Foods.
I keep forgetting about them! Good food!
NPR Steve Inskeep: “Silence, as you must know, that even as you were fighting over your lunch plans, there was a group called Ready for Gyros that wants you to eat gyros, that released a letter signed by more than 300 people who describe themselves as former restaurant waiters and chefs and hostesses. They want you to eat gyros. What do you say to them?”
Silence: ” I’m, I’m not eating gyros. That’s not what we’re doing. We had a really important fight in my tummy just this past week. And I’m putting all my energy into that fight and to what happens after this.”
NPR Steve Inskeep: “Would you tell these independent groups, “Give it up!” You’re just never going to eat gyros.”
Silence: “I told them, “I’m not eating gyros.”
NPR Steve Inskeep: “You’re putting that in the present tense, though. Are you never going to eat gyros?”
Silence: “I am not eating gyros.”
NPR Steve Inskeep: “You’re not putting a ‘never’ on that.”
Silence: “I am not eating gyros. You want me to put an exclamation point at the end?
NPR Steve Inskeep: (Laughs) “OK, that’s fine. Can you tell me, Silence, how you see your role over the next couple of years presuming that you don’t eat gyros? You’ve raised your profile in a way that few Diners have been able to do recently.”
Silence: “You know, I’m just here to stand up for hardworking restauranteurs who just want a fighting chance. That’s what I’m in this fight for, and I’m in this fight all the way. “
Why do you hate gyros?
must be the tzatziki sauce?
Let’s go ahead and make a pact not to elect (or nominate) any Bushes or Clintons for POTUS.
I can’t do that. Right now, Hillary and Jeb are the most palatable options in their respective parties.
Do I want an Elizabeth Warren? No way. Do I want a Rand Paul or a Ted Cruz? Absolutely not…
Luckily, we have almost 24 months of this funfest. Nobody needs to seriously get in this thing before September… hopefully, these two will encourage some other (better) moderates to run.
Monarchist. 🙁
You touch a sore spot…
I see myself as a patriot, as a huge believer in what the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were all about, one who celebrates us as the city on a hill, a defender of our exceptionalism and our status as the one indispensable nation.
But… I’ve always had this nagging feeling that I might have been a Tory in 1775. This makes me feel guilty. But when I think of those Minutemen firing at British soldiers at Lexington and Concord, I am appalled. Shooting to kill at the duly constituted authority? I have a BIG problem with that, and I don’t see the actions by HMG up to that point justifying such violence.
I find it hard to see how anyone with a respect for the rule of law countenances such a thing.
I think John Adams would have been able to talk me into voting for independence during the summer of 1776 in Philadelphia — I think… But I have a problem with the year of warfare that preceded that. I would have had trouble squaring support for such violence with my respect for the law…
The judge rejected Metts’ plea deal! The State asks some pretty pointed questions about exactly why such a sweetheart plea deal was floated in the first place.
The State also asks similarly pointed questions and points out flaws in the police chemist’s case.
That was an unexpected twist in the Metts case, at least to me. Maybe he’d agreed to testify and dime someone else out, to get such an offer?
How about a non-Boomer candidate for President? Boomers have been in charge of the country since the 90’s.
Just as a thought experiment, what if we DQ’ed everyone who was born before 1965? Here’s a rough list of who would be left:
Debbie Wasserman Schultz – D
Cory Booker – D
Kirsten Gillibrand – D
Marco Rubio – R
Ted Cruz – R
Scott Walker – R
Nikki Haley – R
Paul Ryan – R
Bobby Jindal – R
When you look at it, having a cut off at ’65 disqualifies a lot of people. Who else should be on that list?
This also brings up the topic of which party has more youthful politicians waiting in the wings to take the reins as time passes. I know my list is R-heavy, but that’s just because I honestly can’t think of young, up-and-coming Ds. (Maybe I’m missing some from the US House.) I’ll be glad to hear from the brain-trust in supplementing the list of non-boomers on either side.
Scott Walker may be the only one on the list with even a slim chance of winning. Rubio has lost his mojo. Schultz is a walking disaster — the Michelle Bachman of the left.
I agree. I want to go back to electing the WWII generation (the last such candidate having been Bob Dole). Things were better when they were in charge…
Bryan’s list scares me the more I look at it. I think my generation needs to hold on to power a bit longer, for the good of the nation.
Although Kirsten Gillibrand is pretty hot.
That wasn’t me saying that. I think Will Folks just hacked my blog… 🙂
But has she posed for Vogue?
Booker, Rubio, and Jindal don’t scare me, but none of them have much chance of winning their party’s nomination. I wish Jon Huntsman would run again, but he doesn’t fit the post-’65 requirement.
Ben Stiller, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, and Chris Rock were all born in 1965. Not sure I’m ready for that generation to run things.
It’s your generation that got us into the mess.
Did anyone else know that Hilary Clinton has not driven a car since 1996? That is mind boggling. Not for that reason, but I grow increasingly skeptical that she will win the nomination. Is she a better candidate now than she was in 2008? She’s older (she would be 73 at the end of her first term, 77 at the end of a second). She doesn’t present herself as someone with the energy that is required to do the job. She’s got all the Bengazi baggage. She has to distance herself from Obama at some point.
The driving thing is mind boggling to us mere mortals, but it makes sense. The Clintons are worth probably about $100 mil and have full time Secret Service agent security. That would include a driver, I’d assume. Even if they didn’t have a driver from the security detail, I’d sort of expect her to use a limo/car with a driver, just based on her net worth, high profile, and the fact that she travels around a lot.
I guess not driving since 1996 is kind of strange thing when you say it out loud. But it’s just an oddity – it doesn’t mean anything. And maybe it’s not so strange when you look at other people of similar profile and net worth. Does Bill Gates regularly drive himself around? What about Queen Elizabeth? I happen to know for a fact that Putin hasn’t driven in years; he simply rides a grizzly bear everywhere he wants to go. You get the idea.
She would be older than the average President though. However, women have a longer life expectancy, (Check your privilege, Kathryn!) so maybe that cancels out the age issue.
#3 This is the reason I dislike Apple products. Their approach seems to be “we know how you want to do things, and we design our products and services accordingly.”
Google, on the other hand says. “…we take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line.” Viva la Google.
But Apple is right, so where’s the problem?
Although I wish I could remove the emoji option completely from my tablet and phone. It pops up so annoyingly
And it pops up because they think that’s what you want. My Droid allows me to customize such things, and makes suggestions to me based on how I use it.
Apple didn’t violate antitrust laws, so they were “right.” They were also focused on themselves rather than the user.
I’m not vehemently anti-Apple. They just don’t work for me.
I’ve been pretty anti-Apple, but I finally broke down and got an iPhone, and I’m pretty happy with it.