The danger of giving too much power to leaders whom one likes

One of the frustrating things that I have experienced during the Obama presidency is how so many Democratic party supporters of my acquaintance were willing to ignore his excessive use of executive power and secrecy, such as the drone assassination program, the NSA’s violations of people’s privacy, the use of military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees and the refusal to neither bring some of them to trial nor release them, and the harsh prosecution of whistleblowers who release information for the benefit of the public while condoning leakers who did it out of self-interest. They shrugged off all these things because they felt that Obama was a ‘good guy’ who would use the powers granted to him wisely.
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Abusing disabled parking spots

A relative recently told me of a friend of hers who routinely parks in handicapped spaces just because they are more convenient. What is it with people who try to sneak into parking spaces that are reserved for people with handicaps? Are they simply too lazy to walk the extra distance that the other spaces might require? Do they think these reserved spaces are some kind of benefit provided to the undeserving that unfairly discriminates against them? Do they resent anyone being given a privilege that is not also available to them?
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Why don’t they call it the ‘ball and chain throw’?

The Olympic games are currently underway and I am ignoring it for many of the reasons Marcus Ranum writes about. In addition, I hate the fact that the TV presenters will endless hype some marquee event by saying it is “coming up shortly” when in fact they will string out the anticipation for an hour or more, using that time to inundate you with commercials.
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Give Trump a Teleprompter-stat!

On Monday around mid-day I turned on the radio and heard Donald Trump speaking. I immediately recognized his voice but the style was unfamiliar, slow and measured, without the little riffs, asides, and digressions that are his hallmark. It did not surprise me to learn later that he had been reading from a Teleprompter, the device that he so despises when used by president Obama or Hillary Clinton and that Fox News absurdly suggests is because they are unable to speak extemporaneously and always need scripts provided by others.
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Film review: Zootopia (2016)

This is an excellent animated film from the Walt Disney studios that tells the story of the town of Zootopia where all animals, even those who used to be predators and prey in the distant past, have learned to live together in harmony. The story focuses on a rabbit Judy Hopps who realizes her dream of becoming the first rabbit to become a member of the police force that has been dominated by large mammals. She graduates top of her police academy class but faces all manner of discouragement, from her parents who fear the dangers of the job to her precinct boss who thinks that rabbits have no business being police officers and assigns her to parking meter duties in an effort to get her to become frustrated and quit.
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The story behind the story of Jesus’s wife

In September 2012, Karen L. King, the first woman to hold Harvard University’s 295-year-old Hollis Professorship of Divinity, announced at a meeting in Rome the discovery of a piece of ancient credit card sized parchment that contained scraps of dialogue written in the Egyptian language of Coptic supposedly of a dialogue between Jesus and is disciples where Jesus refers to “my wife”.

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