Read a fucking book.
mistermix has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2010.
A Worthy Petition
Lithuanian Exceptionalism
In Lithuania, fiber broadband equivalent in speed to the service purchased by most Americans (10/1 Mbps) is $14.72 a month. The Lithuanian telco just doubled speeds with no rate increase, and you can get 40/40 Mbps service for $55, with no caps.
In the United States, I pay $40/month for 10/1 service. Recently, my ISP (Time Warner Cable) announced that they’ll sell you 30/5 for $70/month, and 50/5 for $100/month. I can’t buy the top end of Lithuanian-grade service (300/40) for any price. But I still count myself as a lucky moocher, because 56% of my fellow leeches have capped Internet service.
My mailbox and email inbox are inundated with offers from the local cable and telco trying to sell me shit I don’t want (more telephone service, more “premium” channels, and various bundles of those two things), along with either underpowered or overpriced Internet access. In the meantime, former collectivists are getting free upgrades to service levels unimaginable in our capitalist paradise. Sometimes I wonder who really won the Cold War.
Birtherism is So 2010
It looks like facts finally sink in:
Here’s another key metric. Orly Taitz only gets one mention in the teabagger list that I follow:
Osama bin Laden is the new conspiracy theory flame for these moths.
Ain’t That a Shame
We’ve got another Tea Party ticket-splitting special election in New York, and it looks like Jane Corwin, who stupidly endorsed Paul Ryan’s budget plan, is in trouble. Corwin is spooked because she’s polling within 5 points of the Democrat, Kathy Hochul. Jack Davis, an anti-immigrant flaming asshole millionaire who ran as a self-funding Democrat for a couple of cycles, is now re-tooled as a Tea Party candidate, and he’s polling in the low 20s. Hochul’s doing pretty good in a R+5 district where real Democrats (i.e., not Davis) usually get beat by 15-46 point margins.
Corwin has Boehner and Cantor coming to town, but I fail to see how their presence will do anything but draw attention to this deadly fact:
The poll found that 59 percent of respondents said they opposed reining in federal spending by cutting entitlement programs like Medicare. Only 38 percent said they supported such spending cuts to trim the deficit.
The best that Corwin can do to mollify pissed-off seniors is to pimp an award from Pat Boone. Old, angry Republicans who can’t bring themselves to vote for a Democrat apparently aren’t impressed by such a weighty endorsement, especially when they have newly minted Tea Partier Jack Davis to vote for.
When tranny-curious Chris Lee resigned this seat, I assumed it was a Republican lock. Now I’m wondering if it’s going to show us that the Ryan plan was a genuine suicide attempt, rather than a tear-stained cry for help.
Update: This is genius. Thanks, Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937.
WWJND
SiubhanDuinne sends this gem to start your day:
A 46-year-old minister pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Savannah to a wire fraud scheme in which he stole at least $200,000 from the church where he was the pastor.
[…]At the same time, Terrell also is awaiting trial on charges that he molested a young Effingham County boy who attended New Harvest with his family, according to the Savannah Morning News.The Savannah newspaper also reported that Terrell has been accused of molesting another child and he has been charged with multiple counts of drunken driving, drug offenses, burglary, forgery, criminal trespass, obstruction and disorderly conduct.
I have to be away from a computer this morning and the shakes are already starting, so you’re on your own. Consider this an open thread.
Cinco de Mayo
Don’t let this get in the way of your tequila blackout, but:
Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexico’s Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico, which occurs on September 16th. Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that is virtually ignored in Mexico.
My mom’s the kind of Mexican who is still smarting about the Cession of 1848 and wouldn’t set foot in a chain Mexican restaurant. Along with sour cream on tacos, she thinks Cinco de Mayo is strictly for gringos. I didn’t even know the holiday existed until after I left home for college. But, enough about that — this is an open thread.