Combat! - Page 326 of 406 - A blog by Dan Brooks

Palin makes Facebook account to like Palin Facebook posts

By Dan Brooks in Existential Dilemmas February 23, 2011 9 Comments

"Nice shot, Sarah." "Thanks, Sarah." "My neck hurts." "You shut your dead mouth!" Fin.

Hitting the Combat! trifecta of existential dilemmas, new media and Sarah Goddamn Palin, Sarah Goddamn Palin has apparently created a second Facebook account that she uses to Like posts from her main Facebook account. Props to Pete for the link. In addition to vociferously supporting Bristol’s appearances on Dancing With the Stars, “Lou Sarah” has the same email address that Palin uses for her Sarah Palin account, tipped her 14 friends to the appearance of Edge Fitness in a then-unaired episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, regularly comments “amen” to Sarah Palin Alpha’s Wall posts, and Likes the video “Sarah Palin’s Favorite Things.” Don’t try to untangle the subject-object relationship in that last one if you want to continue believing in the temporal self. This news story is A) obviously unimportant and B) relentlessly significant. The more you think about it, the more weird implications unfold.

America: Fucking stupid?

By Dan Brooks in widespread dumbening February 22, 2011 4 Comments

Politically active Americans, seated, in athletic wear

I like democracy the way Tila Tequila likes MySpace: generally and in principle, but almost never when it appears in individual manifestations. Winston Churchill, who is fortunately dead and unable to see himself name-checked immediately after Tila Tequila, remarked that “the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Now that the internet has threatened to turn our mediated discourse into a 24-hour conversation with the average voter, we are better equipped than ever to answer the fundamental question of American democracy: are we fucking stupid or what? The results of the most recent Newsweek/Daily Beast poll may surprise you. As usual, “surprise” means “grimly confirm.”

What good is a union and/or a Scott Walker?

By Dan Brooks in conservatism February 21, 2011 8 Comments

An estimated 50,000 protestors demonstrated before the Wisconsin capitol in Madison on Saturday.

In the same way that the foreign exchange student was weirdly the most candid person at your high school, foreign news services are a great way to catch up on long-running* stories that you somehow missed. Besides describing state senators’ flight to Illinois as “an almost comic move,” this article from the Guardian neatly sums up what’s going on in Wisconsin. Perhaps you’ve heard about this, but they’ve got some law up there nobody can agree about. Newly-elected governor Scott Walker, with the support of a Republican senate, wants to address the state’s budget shortfall by cutting benefits to schoolteachers and other state employees. He also wants to eliminate collective bargaining rights for same. Exactly what teachers’ right to negotiate as a union might have to do with the state’s fiscal problems is just one of the many fun complications people are yelling about in Wisconsin.

Friday links! Awesome power of logic edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links February 18, 2011 2 Comments

Deductive reasoning isn’t just a tool for curing polio and making accurate models of the solar system; it’s also a great way to alienate yourself from like half the population. One can only imagine the joy of the first caveman who combined two truthful propositions to synthesize a third, and the disappointment/rock impact he felt when he tried to explain it to somebody else. The problem with logic is that it works best on those people who are most likely to arrive at valid conclusions themselves. Its effectiveness diminishes as you deal with unprincipled or prejudiced people—sorry, “common sense” people—and drops to near zero when you get to people who prefer standing outside and yelling stuff. Basically, logic convinces least where you need it most, like if Raid killed bugs in direct proportion to their intelligence. This week’s link roundup starts out with some sweet victories for logic, then watches logic return to its role as depressingly aging gatekeeper. It’s also got Glenn Beck telling us which major religion the Antichrist will probably belong to so, you know, look out for that.

This week in being responsible

By Dan Brooks in Uncategorized February 17, 2011 1 Comment

Because of a series of free choices I made last night, which just happened to be the midpoint between my thirty-third and thirty-fourth birthdays, Combat! blog was Combat? Blearrgh! all day. Do you sometimes miss work because of drinking? I do apparently, and I think we can all agree that my new life as an alcoholic will be even more exciting than what has come thus far. The only hitch is that I never want to drink alcohol again, but I’m sure that will change as I get alone-er. Good news on that front: I did get the number of a young lady who had accumulated so many drink tickets that as I was leaving she won a snowboard in a raffle, and as soon as I learn her name, we will be in business. While I regain homeostasis, how about you read this fascinating article about how you kill a religion? You say you wouldn’t, but what are you gonna do when religion kicks down your door in the middle of the night and starts menacing your family? If you’re picturing Southern Baptist in this hypothetical, it’s because you’re a racist. I know—I’m an alcoholic.