From Pine View Farm

2021 archive

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

At The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bill Torpy tells of what happened when Doordash driver’s GPS sent him to the wrong house in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood and of the politeness that ensued thereafter.

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Limitations of Statues 0

F. T. Rea muses on the removal of Confederate Statues from Richmond’s Monument Avenue and what it may mean for the future. Here’s a bit:

A good part of the energy for that rejection seems to be coming from 16-to-35-year-olds who now appear to have developed the modern equivalent of a William Tell attitude. Somewhat like Tell, the 14th century legendary Swiss archer, when they find themselves confronted by today’s equivalent of Albrecht Gessler’s hat, they simply can’t stand being compelled to show it respect.

Fast-fowarding to more recent times, with his taking-a-knee gesture, Colin Kaepernick was right. Forced reverence should be challenged.

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The Climates They Are a-Changing 0

While northern California is in flames, elsewhere in the state, small towns are running dry. Here’s a bit from SFGate’s report:

Water is so scarce in Mendocino, an Instagram-ready collection of pastel Victorian homes on the edge of the Pacific, that restaurants have closed their restrooms to guests, pointing them instead to portable toilets on the sidewalk.

And the fire department has asked sheriff’s deputies to keep an eye on the hydrants in response to a report of water theft.

“We’ve grown up in this first-world country thinking that water is a given,” said Julian Lopez, the owner at Café Beaujolais, a restaurant packed with out-of-town diners in what is the height of the tourist season. “There’s that fear in the back of all our minds there is going to be a time when we don’t have water at all. And only the people with money would be able to afford the right to it.”

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QOTD 0

Francis Lynde, in “The Cloud Busters”:

Swindles are like the poor. They are always with us.

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Recommended Reading 0

It’s all about the algorithm

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

Frame One:  Joe Biden says to crowd of listeners,

One more time, “social” media isn’t.

Image via Job’s Anger.

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Snake Oil Suckers 0

We are a society of stupid.

Read the article that Farron is discussing.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Politeness is a family value.

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

New Jersey pastors call out the Republican lieutenant-governor candidate for racist, bigoted remarks. Here’s what she said:

“I mean, right now look at all these people with COVID who are coming across the border, and it scares me,” Allen said. “They’re put on buses. I suspect some of them are coming up to New Jersey — not a good idea. (But) the people who are pulled over from the border who are carrying illegal guns or drugs, or whatever. So there’s a lot of things going on that I didn’t want to see go on, and that was the reason that I voted for Trump.”

Here’s part of the pastors’ response; follow the link for the rest.

The trope that migrants carry diseases that threaten national security is among the most pervasive myths touted by anti-immigration hardliners.

Senator Allen is not alone in using this dangerous rhetoric. She joins the ranks of elected officials and cable news pundits who have sought to offload accountability for failed efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 on migrants crossing the southern border.

It should come as no surprise that their claims have been thoroughly debunked.

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Body Count (Updated) 0

Dick Polman explores the decisions by Texas Governor Abbot and Florida Governor DeSantis to relax the reins and give the virus its head in its mad dash through the populace of their states. He minces no words.

A snippet:

It takes a truly twisted mentality to believe that it’s good policy to kill off one’s own citizens. But that’s how life and death go when you’re governed by the MAGA variant.

(snip)

What explains the Abbott-DeSantis death match? That’s an easy one. The cult formerly known as the Republican party virtually requires it.

Follow the link for his marshaling of the evidence.

Addendum:

Sacrifices.

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Vaccine Nation 0

Title:  Back to School 2021.  Image:  Man wearing dunce cap reading

Via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.

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Freedom of Screech 0

Elizabeth Dye points out that someone’s having been a Harvard Law School Professor doesn’t necessarily mean that he understands the law.

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QOTD 0

Sinclair Lewis:

I must say I’m not very fond of oratory that’s so full of energy it hasn’t any room for facts.

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Another Tune for the Times 0

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A Tune for the Times 0

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“Suffer the Children” 0

That’s not scripture.

As Frances Coleman explains at AL.com, that’s Republican policy.

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They’re Everywhere 0

Two children playing on the beach.  The little girl picks up a conch shell and holds it to her ear, only to hear,

Click to view the original image.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Play politely with your pets.

Investigators say that Pleasant–who had been drinking brandy, according to a witness–picked up the Smith & Wesson gun and “turned on the laser sight and was pointing it at the floor to get a cat to chase it.”

While playing with the firearm, Pleasant discharged the weapon, striking Daniels in the right thigh. Daniels, who was standing in a doorway when hit, stood “in shock for a second and then he asked Ms. Pleasant if she had shot him,” according to the witness quoted in the complaint.

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Accepting the Inevitable 0

Methinks Noz has a point.

Read more »

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The Evidence of Things Seen 0

Man and woman sitting on the roof of house immersed in flood waters.  Man asks,

Click for the original image.

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