From Pine View Farm

December, 2015 archive

And Now for Something Completely Different 0

Via KCEA.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Frolic on Facebook fastidiously.

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V-Mail 0

Chez Pazienda catalogs reports from the front in the War on Christmas.

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The Entitlement Society, White Girl Wants Her Privilege Dept. 0

Via TPM.

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Wall Street Three-Card Monte, a Game for Rubes 0

Cash on the barrel head, it’s a game anyone can play.
Put your money down, folks. Anyone can win.
Don’t check your pockets folks, there’s nothing left in them.
It’s all a game folks, all that matters is the play.
There’s nothing real folks, no matter what you say.
So now you got nothing? It must not have been your day.
Fête vos jeux, it’s time for the next play.
And the wheel goes round and round . . . .

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Ammosexual Antics 0

You couldn’t make this stuff up.

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How Stuff Works, Splet Chek Dept. 0

Goat:  Let me introduce my new friend, Brian.  He designs the autocorrect feature for all the texts people send.  Pig:  That sounds complex.  How do you  know which word to change it to?  Brian:  I find the most embarrassing and pick that.  Pig:  That seems unfair.  Brian (shouting):  Programmers need joy in their lives too!

Makes sense to me.

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None Dare Call It Terrorism 0

Alfred Doblin points out that, in fact, it is.

THE MEN and women seeking the Republican nomination for president should shut up and study history. Governor Christie, speaking before the Republican Jewish Coalition last week, said, “For the first time since 9/11 we’re going to have to confront the loss of American life on American soil to terrorist conduct.”

I guess Adam Lanza, who shot 26 people inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, was just a man with a weapon. Slaughtering 26 people — 20 were children — was not an act of terrorism because, according to GOP presidential wannabes, a crazed man with a gun killing more than a half-dozen people in a school is not a terrorist. Or James Holmes killing 12 and injuring 70 additional people inside a movie theater in 2012 is not a terrorist.

Read the rest.

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Capitalism’s Vultures 0

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QOTD 0

Jim Morrison:

We fear violence less than our own feelings. Personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict.

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Break Time 0

Off to drink liberally.

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“The Government Cannot Exalt Itself as . . . a God over the Soul” 0

In my local rag, an evangelical Christian speaks out eloquently against religious bigotry, in particular the current right-wing vendetta against Muslims and Islam.

Given the hatred issuing from so many persons who, as the old man back home used to say, “calls themselves Christians,” I think his article worth noting, even though his theology may differ from my own. Here’s a bit.

The U.S. government should fight, and fight hard, against radical Islamic jihadism. The government should close the borders to anyone suspected of even a passing involvement with any radical cell or terrorist network. But the government should not penalize law-abiding people, especially those who are U.S. citizens, for holding their religious convictions.

(snip)

Make no mistake; a government that can shut down mosques simply because they are mosques can shut down Bible studies because they are Bible studies. A government that can close the borders to all Muslims simply on the basis of their religious belief can do the same thing for evangelical Christians.

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And Now for Something All Too Common 0

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None Dare Call It Terrorism . . . 0

. . . but it clearly is.

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Immunity Impunity 0

Policeman with hand on heart facing jury:

Click for the full article.

Via Delaware Liberal.

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“No Religious Test . . . .” 0

Reg Henry envisions customs in a time of religious screenings:

If anybody could turn tragedy into farce, Donald Trump was the man for the job. In the wake of the terrorist atrocity in San Bernardino, Calif., he proposes banning all Muslims from entering the United States.

Poor border officials. It is hard enough for them to find Cuban cigars in luggage, now they will have to ask, “Do you have anything to declare, you know, like a religion?”

Absurd conversations are likely to abound. “I am a Sufi,” a visitor will say. And the border guard, not trained in comparative religions, will reply: “You’re a softie? Come right in and welcome to the United States!”

A woman in a head covering will be rejected and will protest the injustice: “But I am a traditional Roman Catholic nun.” To which the official will ask his pal, “Hey Joe! Are roaming Catholics on the list?”

Follow the link for more, in which he goes for a Cruz.

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Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0

Not quite so good, but still under 300k.

Jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 282,000 in the week ended Dec. 5, the highest level since July 4, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.

(snip)

The prior week was unrevised at 269,000. In July, filings dropped to 255,000, the lowest since the 1970s. . . .

The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, rose to 270,750 from 269,250 in the prior week.

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Droning On 0

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QOTD 0

Kerry Greenwood:

Oh, I thought they would be exciting.

I was bored. I remember being bored. It was nice. I didn’t appreciate it at the time.

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“No Irish Muslims Need Apply” 4

In the Seattle Times, Nick Hanauer indulges in a bit of hyperbole in arguing against closing our borders:

Inclusion strengthens America’s ability to compete on a global stage. Every potential American citizen we scare away with our fear-mongering weakens our potential for growth. For crying out loud, the poster child for innovation in the 21st century, Steve Jobs, was the son of a Syrian migrant.

Imagine an America where Jobs’ father was turned away because of his Muslim faith. You might be reading these words on a massive 25-pound desktop computer right now. When we exclude people, our perspectives narrow, fewer people feel welcome, fewer problems are solved and we enter an economic death spiral of homogeneity.

I’ve had a number of desktop computers. I’m pretty sure none of them weighed even half of 25 pounds; the one I’m using right now weighs about five pounds. Furthermore, Jobs was not a tech genius; he was a marketing genius.

Despite the hyperbole, the author has a point.

Follow the link for the rest.

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