From Pine View Farm

January, 2022 archive

Freedom of Screech 0

At Above the Law, Joe Patrice explains that one thing is not like the other thing. An excerpt; follow the link for more.

. . . it’s not the same thing. Banning Maus . . . is a government action raising all manner of thorny constitutional issues because governments are obligated to represent everyone while Neil Young is a private actor telling another private actor that it can no longer profit off of his property.

Share

Dis Coarse Discourse, Disinformation Superhighway Dept. 0

Man says to Pig,

Click for the original image.

Share

Maskless Marauders 0

Rex Huppke minces no words about the maskless morons who saw fit to invade a public library.

Let’s start in St. Charles. On Wednesday, I called the St. Charles Public Library and heard this recorded message: “Due to the heightened threat to health and safety, the library is currently closed.”

A reasonable person might ask, “Why is there a threat to health and safety at a public library?” The answer, not surprisingly, involves a number of unreasonable people acting like jerks.

On Jan. 18, a group of 30 to 40 unmasked people took a bold stance against rule-following and trotted into the library’s youth service department to protest the library board’s mandatory mask policy, which is in line with the statewide mask mandate. This unsafe and truly pathetic act is apparently what passes for “patriotic” among those who think posting videos of themselves doing childish, unfunny things on social media is a path to right-wing-goober celebrity status.

More unminced words at the link.

Share

Facebook Frolics in Blue 0

One more time, “social” media isn’t.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Once again, children are exposed to politeness by a responsible gun owner (sic).

The child was said to be shot accidentally by a 9-year-old inside a car according to WSB-TV.

Police say an adult went inside to pick up food and left a gun inside the vehicle.

Share

Misdiagnosis 0

Atrios reminds us that not all price increases result from inflation.

Given the who-shot-john about recent price increases, most of which result from concrete supply-chain and production issues, his post and the article it links to are worth your while.

Share

Vaccine Nation, Have Cake, Eat It Too Dept. 0

Frame One:  Man in hospital bed says,

Click for the original image.

(The backstory.)

Share

QOTD 0

Jerry Coyne:

Theology is the post hoc rationalization of what you want to believe.

Aside:

I must say, it is somewhat disconcerting to run across a Wikiquote page for someone you once knew. Of course, he wouldn’t remember me on a bet, but we went to the same college and were casual acquaintances.

I recognized even then that he was brilliant.

Share

Recommended Listening 0

The Deep Lake Mystery, by Carolyn Wells.

It’s not a great mystery, but it’s a good story.

I must admit that the conclusion is rather contrived. Nevertheless, the author’s use of language to create atmosphere is exceptional. Indeed, I have downloaded several more of her stories from Librivox and look forward to listening to them.

Share

And Now for a Musical Interlude 0

Share

If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0

For example.

Share

All That Was Old Is New Again, Reprise 0

The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts celebrates an honest Republican. A nugget:

Finally, we have a Republican legislator who is honest about the party’s intentions with the dozens upon dozens upon dozens of bills aimed at “reforming” our elections.

“We should have voting, in my opinion, in person, one day on paper, with no electronic means and hand counting that day,” he said, during a Wednesday hearing on an election bill. “We need to get back to 1958-style voting.”

Ah yes, 1958, the golden era for those of a certain hue. The good old days when we could use literacy tests and poll taxes to keep certain people (you know who you are) from having a vote.

More celebration at the link.

Share

All That Was Old Is New Again 0

Will Bunch looks at the current right-wing freak-out over book learnin’. A snippet:

This right-wing freak-out over what they claim is children becoming indoctrinated with ideas about racism or homophobia feels like a new McCarthyism. But when I spoke this week to Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education for the writers’ advocacy group PEN America, he said the pace of what his group calls “gag orders” against classroom instructors is the worst since the 1920s’ crusade against teaching evolution that climaxed with the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial.” That trial took place in Tennessee just 28 miles west of where Maus was banned in the 2020s.

Image of the Pulitzer-prize winning book, Maus, caught in a mousetrap labeled

Image via Job’s Anger.

Share

Racism Supreme 0

Thom discusses today’s Republican Party’s embrace of racism as it relates to the recent vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Share

The Omission 0

John Young has a quibble with dis coarse discourse:

It’s odd. I just watched one of those dreary year-anniversary treatments of the Joe Biden presidency, and it left out his most important achievement.

Follow the link to find out what was left out.

Share

The Disinformation Superhighway 0

Image:  COVID virus labled

Click for the original image.

Share

QOTD 0

Eddie Cantor:

It takes twenty years to make an overnight success.

Share

A Tune for the Times 2

Share

Thought Police 0

Michael in Norfolk discusses the right-wing’s war on thoughts. A snippet:

. . . Christofascists and the politicians who prostitute themselves to those who embrace ignorance and bigotry have been trying to ban any books and knowledge that challenge their primative beliefs from public schools and public libraries. Now, this forces have merged with racists – studies have shown the two overlap by wide margins – to push for a new round of book banning to prevent students and members of the public from learning accurate and truthful history and the common humanity of racial minorities and LGBT people.

Image of

Share

Vaccine Nation, Dithering Double-Talk Dept. 0

Share