June, 2020 archive
Referential 0
At the Idaho State Journal, Mike Murphy reveals that he has finally found the answer to a question which has nagged him for some time: Who Donald Trump reminds him of.
His answer may surprise you.
Human Sacrifice 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, David Ludden reports on a study as to why persons of many major religions kill in the name of their Gods. No excerpt or summary can do the piece justice, as it is indeed itself a summary, but here’s a bit from his introduction:
Follow the link for the full piece. Methinks it a particularly timely read.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Children should play politely.
Flirtation 0
Der Spiegel takes a look at what’s happening in the United States and–er–voices concerns. A snippet (emphasis added):
From the German perspective, of course, the comparison seems farfetched. In February, 1933, the National Socialists used the fire in Berlin’s Reichstag building as an excuse to issue the “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State.” This essentially meant the suspension of the Weimar-era constitution and the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship.
The U.S. is far away from that. The system of checks and balances is a long way from being defanged and opposition is lively, as the streets in recent days have shown. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats have a solid majority and both Washington and New York are home to newspapers that wield tremendous power.
But the president is flirting with authoritarianism. And his party is following along.
Follow the link for the rest.
America’s Racist Fundament 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Neil Shpancer suggests that incidents of outright racist brutality, such as the recent killings of George Floyd and others for being while black, as horrifying as they are, may distract us from the true character of day-to-day racism. He argues that racism is embedded so deeply within American culture, laws, and public life that it propagates itself, even in the absence of individual acts of overt racism.
Here’s a bit, including four elements he identifies as blinding us to the systemic character of said systemic racism:
(snip)
- First is the process of habituation, by which nervous system activation decreases after prolonged exposure to a stimulus. In other words: things we get used to no longer register. . . .
- Second is internalization, defined as the integration of others’ attitudes, values, standards and opinions into one’s own sense of self. . . .
- Third is learned helplessness, defined as the sense of powerlessness arising from trauma or persistent failure. . . .
- Fourth is the one-two punch of confirmation bias . . . .
(Slightly edited for grammar and clarity.)
The Voter Fraud Fraudsters 0
Scott Lemieux rounds up a list of suspects.
(Surprise. They are not who Republicans tell you they are.)
Useless Trivia 0
I just learned from an episode of Forensic Files that the “SKU” in “SKU number” stands for “stock keeping unit.”
(I am a long-time fan of Forensic Files, because it’s about real science, not science fiction a la CSI.)
From the “No Self-Awareness” Dept. 0
Bob Molinaro, sports writer extraordinaire, catches the irony: