2018 archive
And Now for a Change of Pace 0
Wrapping up the day with jaunty little period piece with creepy undercurrents of sexual exploitation and racism . . . .
Deep Thoughts 0
Kyle Whitmire finds value in the so-called and grossly misnomered “deep state.” A nugget:
That’s when the intractable bureaucrats dig in.
But there’s an upside to this collective recalcitrance, too.
When the lunatics show up, with their department heads, cabinet leaders and other assorted sycophants — that’s when bureaucracy saves us from ourselves. When our political parties turn into religious cults, the bureaucracy doesn’t care. It just keeps doing what it’s always done.
Facebook Frolics 0
Of course, part of the problem is that far too many persons suspend their brains when they should be suspending their computers.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
In a titanic struggle between rationality and rationalization, Thom tangles with a Confederate monument apologist.
“A Nation of Immigrants” 0
Martin W.G. King writes of the conditions inside Donald Trump’s concentration camps for immigrants and asylum seekers. Here’s a bit:
(snip)
Trump has created a climate that has encouraged the mistreatment of migrants for his own political gain, and he’s done it, mostly, with impunity.
This is institutionalized cruelty.
Words fail me.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Practice random acts of politeness (more at the link).
Davis County Chief Deputy Ty Berger said Monday that no one was injured on the bus or in a semitrailer that was also hit by a bullet when five to 10 shots were fired from the orchard before sunrise.
Yeppers, that just what responsible gun owners do: shoot randomly in the direction of a public highway that is hidden from view by trees. Yes-indeedy-do. Just a lil’ old accident.
Meta: Well, That Was a Relief 0
Every week, usually on Monday, I perform regular maintenance on the database for this blog. I log into my hosting provider, navigate to CPanel, and do a “check,” “repair,” and “optimize” on the SQL database. I then export the database tables and save a copy on my local computer what I’m typing on right now because there is no such thing as too many backups.
Totally Tubular 0
I guess he’s comfortable.
Afterthought:
He’s a very affectionate cat. “Affectionate cat” means either a cat that is hungry or a cat that is willing to accept affection.
The Entitlement Society 0
Robert Reich comments on the self-important snowflakes of our new Gilded Age and manages to find commonalities amongst a most disparate set of folks.
The Flip Side 0
Farron offers Donald Trump a technique so as not to be afraid of “flipping.”
The Mixed Legacy of John McCain 0
If you have followed this blog since before the 2008 election, you know I was not a particular fan of John McCain’s politics and political behavior. I have long believed that his reputation as a “maverick” was based more on appearances than on actions.
Nevertheless, he remained one of the few men and women of principle in a party that seems to have abandoned even the pretense of principle. Badtux points out that he did from time to time choose to stand up for polity above party, perhaps most notably during the last two years, which alone makes him stand out from his fellow Republicans, even as his maverick reputation was overblown and undeserved.
All this is by of pointing you towards a long and thoughtful consideration of McCain’s political career over at Shaun Mullen’s place. He expresses well what I would only express poorly.
Happy Birthday to Me 0
From Pine View Farm is 13 years old today.
It’s been a long strange trip, one that I could not have predicted.
PVF started as hobby project to learn more about Linux. Initially I self-hosted it from an old IBM PC 300 (one of the original Pentiums) in my guest room using Slackware 10 and noip.com. Now the website is out there somewhere on a most excellent hosting provider whose tech support is unparalled. And, along the way, I’ve learned a lot about Linux, HTML, and css.
PVF is still a hobby, or, perhaps more properly, an avocation, to which I am deeply committed. I hope to continue shooting my mouth off on the inner webs for a long time to come.
For every time I consider giving it up, something new comes along to feed the outrage.