May, 2017 archive
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
This is your country on Trump.
The Instagram postings in March targeted 11 students, all but one of whom was a person of color, as well as the girl’s basketball team’s black coach. The images showed those pictured with nooses around their necks. There were also photos of apes side-by-side with the girls.
The True Believer 0
Afterthought:
I get a kick–a depressing and gloomy kick, but a kick nonetheless–out of all those right-wing columnists and talk show mavens, like, for example, George Will and Joe Scarborough, who are lamenting the current state of the Republican Party.
Given their history of shilling for Republicans and Republicanism while rationalizing inimical bestial public policies, all I have to offer them is the words of The Who: “Look in the mirror, boy.”
But you know they won’t look, for their careers (and their paychecks and speaking engagements and television appearances) depend on separating cause from effect.
Via Juanita Jean.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Gunnuttery goes to the doctor.
Accidentally dropping her purse in a waiting room, authorities said the 22 calibre Derringer inside went off and struck one patient in the leg.
The stupid. It burns.
The Bully’s Pulpit 0
Jaana Juvonen, a professor of developmental psychology, argues that Donald Trump fits the picture of a classic middle school bully. A snippet:
“The Internet of Targets” 0
Bruce Schneir discusses how the ballyhooed “Internet of Things” will increase the threat of malware. A snippet:
But it is a system that’s going to fail in the “Internet of things”: everyday devices like smart speakers, household appliances, toys, lighting systems, even cars, that are connected to the web. Many of the embedded networked systems in these devices that will pervade our lives don’t have engineering teams on hand to write patches and may well last far longer than the companies that are supposed to keep the software safe from criminals. Some of them don’t even have the ability to be patched.
If you have or anticipate having or may already have without realizing it internet-enabled stuff (refrigerators, door locks, “digital assistants,” light switches, televisions, “fitness trackers,” medical devices, just to pluck a few devices from the news), read the rest.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
In a long and thoughtful post, F. T. Rea considers recent decisions in New Orleans, Baltimore, and Austin to remove certain monuments to the Secesh, as well as the Virginia legislature’s efforts to prevent such action in Virginia. (Rea hails from Richmond, where Monument Avenue is the site of many memorials to those who fought to preserve and propagate chattel slavery.)
If you are not sure why there’s so much fuss about statuary, his article is well worth your while..Here’s an excerpt (emphasis added):
(snip)
Most of the monuments honoring the Confederacy that stand today in at least 20 states were put in place during the late-1800s/early-1900s. It was an era in which Lost Cause misinformation was being promulgated by stubborn sympathizers of the Confederacy. Plainly, they sought to paint over the haunting politics of the Civil War. Which was a propaganda campaign, if there ever was one.
Fast-forward to 2016: Whether it’s in Richmond or New Orleans, propaganda cast in bronze is still propaganda.
One more time: When you hear someone glorify the “Lost Cause,” ask him or her (though it’s almost always a him) to explain precisely what exactly was the cause that was lost.
Republican Health (Don’t Call It) Care 0
At Philly.com, Ronnie Polaneczky profiles a Medicaid recipient who is a potential victim of Trumpcare. She’s a seven-year old girl from a solidly middle-class family who suffers from Rett Syndrome. Here’s a bit of her article:
(snip)
Emma is only one of the countless thousands of Americans who rely on Medicaid when their luck runs out. Sick kids, disabled adults, the impoverished elderly – there is a real person, a real family, behind every dollar. Trump’s butchering of Medicaid would trade the well-being of these Americans for tax breaks for those who are already rich enough to buy and staff their own hospitals.
That possibility is not just immoral.
It’s grotesque.
“No Questions Asked” 0
Dick Polman reflects on the Montana Republican candidate who attacked a reporter and muses on life in Trumplandia. A snippet:
Do please read the rest.
