From Pine View Farm

January, 2019 archive

Spy vs. Spied 0

Frame One:  Dozens of men and women, military and civilian, labeled

Click for the original image.

Share

The Art of the Foxconn 0

Scott Bauer delves into how Scott Walker and Wisconsin got Foxconned. A snippet:

Marc Levine, senior fellow and founding director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Center of Economic Development, called it “one enormous bait-and-switch.”

Much more at the link.

(Broken link fixed.)

Share

How Stuff Works, Centrism Dept. 0

Group of cavemen surrounded by wheels of various shapes:  square, round, triangular.  They are cheering a round wheel with one flat side and congratulating themselves on having compromised.  Caption:  Establishment of the

Click for the original image.

Share

Florida’s Fantasy Realm 0

Share

Real Big Men . . . . 0

. . . react to a person whom they perceived as a threat to their phallic personality enhancers.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Politeness is a family value.

Share

No News Is No News 0

I know it’s really really cold in parts of the country and I am in no way wishing to minimize that–in face, I’m glad that we’re not in the path of the blast–but this item is, as Zandar is fond of saying, StupidiNews.

Remember, I worked for the railroad for 25 years.

There’s nothing new about railroads’ putting hotpots next to switches to keep switches from icing up. As I write this, it’s -19 Fahrenheits in Chicago. The hotpots would likely be there were it +19 Fahrenheits, if icing were a threat.

The AP should be ashamed of itself.

Share

QOTD 0

Epicurus:

Luxurious food and drinks, in no way protect you from harm. Wealth beyond what is natural, is no more use than an overflowing container. Real value is not generated by theaters, and baths, perfumes or ointments, but by philosophy.

Share

Old News 0

Man reading newspaper with headline,

Click for the original image.

Share

Real Big Men 0

Share

Originalism Sin 0

Elie Mystal investigates the historical (“originalist,” if you will) meaning of the term “emoluments” and finds that Constitutional “originalists” have no grounds for defending Donald Trump against charges of violating the “Emoluments Clause” of the Constitution.

Then he has a revelation:

Oh, wait, I forgot originalism is a scam devised by Republicans who only care about it when it comes time to restrict the rights of minorities and women.

Follow the link for the rest.

Share

Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0

Trumpled in the Gayborhood.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Visit politely.

The Kansas City Star reports that the shooting happened Friday night while the teen was visiting a Smithville home with several other people. Police say the teen was handling a handgun when it fired. . . . But the teen was pronounced dead a short time later. His name wasn’t immediately released.

And another gun that fired itself . . . .

Share

Giving America the Business 0

In the midst of a ruder-than-usual rant about Donald Trump’s shutdown, the Rude One summarizes why the “run the government like a business” mantra is a con and a scam.

This is why a business mogul should never be president. The government ain’t a corporation. The government ain’t responsible for maximizing the profits of a few. It’s gotta keep working in order to make life better for the most people, ideally.

Follow the link for the rest.

Share

Stray Thought 0

If Howard Schultz plans to do to the country what he did to coffee, he ain’t getting my vote.

Share

QOTD 0

Frank Zappa:

The U.S. is a mere pup tent of a civilization. We’ve got two hundred years of stupidity behind us and we think we’re right up there with everyone else who’s been doing it for thousands of years.

Share

Russian Impulses 0

Shaun Mullen leaves no turn unstoned.

Share

Facebook Frolics 0

The fashion police.

Share

The Wall-Eyed Piker and Emerging Emergencies 0

Elie Mystal is deeply disturbed at how cavalierly the press and public is treating the talk that Donald Trump might declare a national emergency so as to foist his stupid wall on the polity. An excerpt; follow the link for the rest (emphasis added).

Well, we should be all terrified, but many people are not. Trump has successfully played the media into talking about Trump’s authority to declare a national emergency as if it’s just one tool among many to “break the stalemate.” Anybody with a working historical knowledge about THE DEATH OF REPUBLICS (sic) knows that strongmen taking on emergency powers when there is no “emergency” is a terminal cancer to representative self-government. Anybody who is from a country that had a democracy and lost it knows this is where things start to go irrevocably wrong. But America is a young country filled with uneducated and easily distracted people.

I commend the complete post to your attention.

Share

Wasted Deep in the Big Muddy 0

The never-ending legacy of President George the Worst:

Two soldiers in Afghanistan.  One, looking at his smart phone, says,

Click for the original image.

Share