An article from the Baffler that explores the long connection between the modern American Conservative movement and, well, dishonesty.  This article is back from the days when Mitt Romney was running for president (Nov. 2012).  Not that actual political conservatism has any inherent connection with dishonesty, it is just that the goals of modern American conservatives, living in modern America, seem to do better when objective reality can be ignored.  Worth a read if you find some of the statements from our conservative leaders especially disturbing.  Nothing new here, really.

The Long Con

A good article from the BBC (thanks again, Yadu). I remember at the end of the Cold War wondering with friends what would happen to unity in the US without the existential threat of nuclear Armageddon.  Also the lid that was kept on the powerful, of those seeking power.  We saw the collapse first in the Soviet Union and cheered at the splintered politics, substance abuse, falling life expectancy and rising oligarchy of our former enemy, not realizing we were just two steps behind them.

The time when America stopped being great

So, the Las Vegas shooter was losing lots of money.  The casinos knew this immediately. All of this is just part of the cost of doing business, when your business is preying on human weakness.

Las Vegas shooter had been losing money for two years and ‘was going in the wrong direction,’ sheriff says