atomic_fungus (atomic_fungus) wrote,
atomic_fungus
atomic_fungus

#5493: In our house, it was the BINKUM

Hackaday has a post up about the history of remote controls. Sometime in the mid-1970s my parents bought a 19" color TV with an ultrasonic remote control for my maternal grandmother. When she passed away, the TV came here and went into my parents' bedroom.

The remote control, when a button was pressed, made an obvious bink-UMM sound--the "bink" being the aluminum tone rod being struck, the "UMM" coming from the striking mechanism after all the tension was released. Thus, "binkum", and they've always been known as that around here. So much so that at least one of my friends began calling them that.

I should resurrect it. It's much better than "clicker". And easier to say than "remote".

* * *

Why, it's the scoop of the century!

"Remember this the next time someone tries to tell you the miracles in the Bible never happened." CNN is agog over a statue's refusal to move, even when it's snowing, and that response to their fatuous tweet made me laugh out loud. Another reply: "I feel like a statue picking itself up and leaving to take shelter would be a bigger story but what do I know about news" [SIC].

You see, this is the state that the media have been reduced to: admiring an inanimate object's steadfastness in the face of inclement weather.

* * *

Speaking of fatuous, Rachel Maddow illegally obtained, and made public, some of President Trump's old tax returns.

It turned out to be nothing. Epic nothing, nothing on the scale of Gerado Rivera and Al Capone's vault.

Of course, we do have to thank her for confirming that Hillary lied and Trump did indeed pay income taxes.

And, heh.

* * *

#FakeAmerican. Remember it.

* * *

Incidentally, I'm sure we've all noticed by now that the fake Americans of the left have decreed that it's okay to make violent threats against the President again. Now that we have President Trump, rather than President Fake American, it's all about "freedom of expression" rather than "respecting the office", which the fake Americans never bother with.

Heh.

* * *

Hey, did you see this? Teachers in New York city no longer need to pass a literacy exam to be teachers.

"That's insane!" You gasp. "Why not?"

Oh, come on, now. You're enlightened enough to read the Fungus, you can guess why.

No? Really? Okay, here:
Only 41 percent of black candidates and 46 percent of Hispanic candidates had passed the exam on their first attempt, compared to 64 percent of white candidates.
That's right! Because raciss!!!, that's why.

As usual, that consideration trumps everything else. These people are clearly unfit to be teaching children, but raciss!, so instead of doing anything about the literacy of the teachers we simply eliminate the requirement that they be able to read. It's the fake American way!

But of course the real problem with socialized education is that we simply don't spend enough. Right?

* * *

The snow is melting. I honestly didn't pay any attention to it yesterday, but today I can see grass again, so that's good. That means we won't have birds dropping dead of starvation.

* * *

Watched, the week before last, a couple eps of Bakuon!, and it reminded me that I have a motorcycle. I haven't ridden the thing since--when??

Let's see, plates renew in September, and like last year the renewal notice sits on my keyboard unheeded because I haven't had time to ride it or renew the plates, and I became unemployed in February, which is winter, so--

August? July? Gadzooks.
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