From Pine View Farm

January, 2017 archive

QOTD 0

Mignon McLaughlin:

The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it.

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Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses
Oh, Forget It
0

In the true spirit of Trumpery and the Republican Party, this is just mean for the sake of mean.

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A Picture Is Worth 0

Title:  Populism for Dummies.  Image:  Left-leaning demonstrators carrying signs that say,

Via Job’s Anger.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Play politely.

A Mesa 15-year-old remains in extremely critical condition after he was accidentally shot in the chest by a friend. . . .
.

The victim’s brother told police that he witnessed the shooting, and saw 20-year-old Ulises Sanchez holding a gun when it went off, striking the victim in the chest. He reportedly told police that appeared to him that the shooting was accidental.

. . . and another gun that fires itself.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

PoliticalProf.

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All the News that Fits 0

Thom and Pap discuss the how the media misses the mark through superficiality.

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“As Is” 0

Shorter Dick Polman: In the soul biz, all sales are final.

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More! 0

Donald Trump:

Via Job’s Anger.

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Trumpling the Voice of America 0

Via C&L, which also has a transcript.

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QOTD 0

W. C. Fields:

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.

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And for Something Completely Different 0

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Tales of the Tarheel Potty Patrol 0

A reminder to Texas and other states whose Republicans have a pervy preoccupation with what goes on behind closed stalls:

Governor McCrory (now out of office) and NC legislative leaders give LGBT North Carolinians a swirly in the toilet as McCrory says,

Via Job’s Anger.

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Decoding de Code: Logic Is Irrelevant 0

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Trump Beta 0

Alex Steed argues that the tenure of Maine’s openly racist Governor LePage is a preview of the Trumpling. He is not optimistic, though he finds the continuing protests a reason for hope. Here is a bit:

. . . for those who care to resist the regressive policies being touted and, to a large degree, threatened by the Trump administration, here’s is what I have learned in our time under LePage.

Don’t keep waiting for Trump to do something so outrageous people will wake up. They won’t.

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“Can You Give Me Sanctuary . . . .” 0

A lawyer looks at Donald Trump’s action on “sanctuary cities” and finds it to be–er–of questionable legality. A snippet (this is one of the milder bits):

The much-discussed “stick” to all of this is Trump’s threat to pull “federal funding” from “sanctuary cities.” What constitutes a “sanctuary city” for the purposes of losing their funding? Only Trump knows. I’m not being flip. There’s no legal definition of what constitutes a sanctuary city, so it can be pretty much whoever is pissing Trump off at that moment. New York and San Francisco, sure, we already know we’re in the opening week of a four-year war of orange aggression. But freaking Topeka could be on this list if they don’t cheer loud enough when Trump is in need of adulation.

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Facebook Frolics 0

Microbrewed frolics.

Remember, “freedom of speech” does not mean “freedom from accountability.”

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Spin Cycle 0

An ex-corporate spin-meister discusses how “spin” differs from “lies” and marvels at the multiplication of mendacity. A couple of nuggets (emphasis added):

Let’s say for the sake of argument one year when I was in the corporate world our company posted a strong year in Sales (up 30 percent) but not so strong a year in Assets Under Management (up 1 percent). In our various financial communications we’d naturally emphasize the Sales results and focus less on the Assets results. That’s just spinning. It’s OK. It’s sound management. Everyone in business does it. You’re always building your brand. You’re marketing. You’re trying to put your best foot forward. Why wouldn’t you?

But let’s say that beyond emphasizing just one figure and de-emphasizing another, to try to “help” our company I decided to unilaterally claim that Assets Under Management were up 10 percent, not 1 percent. That’s not spinning. That’s lying. You can’t do that. At least not for long. . . .

Today lying has been elevated to a renegade art form. We call it Fake News. (I’d rather call it Real Lying.) In a year of troubling trends, no trend is more troubling to me than the everyday casualness with which folks in power, or seeking power, ignore facts or make up their own when real facts don’t suit their needs.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Walk politely.

According to authorities, when confronted with the concern that evidence did not match the man’s story, along with the need to call in additional resources for the safety of the public, the man admitted he had not been truthful.

Deputies learned the man lost control of his vehicle and it rolled. He began walking toward a friend’s house, but slipped on the icy road, fell and briefly lost consciousness after hitting his head. The man explained he was armed with a handgun which accidentally discharged during the fall, striking him in the arm.

Had he been packing, no doubt this would not have happene–oh, wait.

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QOTD 0

W. Somerset Maugham:

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.

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Treadmill Hamster Cage to Oblivion 0

Shorter Booman: This is nuts and can’t go on.

I fear implosions–or I hope to God not but would not be surprised, explosions–are closer than I thought.

Garrison Keilor suggested the other day that Republicans did this and they need to fix it.

Afterthought:

Yeah. Good luck with that.

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