September, 2023 archive
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Sam dissects the dissimulation.
(Spellink erorr correxed.)
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
To the surprise of all concerned, someone on “social” media gets held accountable.
Who woulda thunk?
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
More politeness on the pavement:
Myles was driving a Toyota Prius westbound on I-440 when the shooting took place at about 8:50pm, police said. Investigators said a speeding white sedan was weaving in and out of the interstate traffic and passed the Prius on the left shoulder.
Then the sedan swerved into a lane to the right of the Prius and slowed down before someone inside opened fire onto the Prius’ passenger side.
We are a broken society.
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
In additional evidence that “history is irony,” it’s clear that the self-described “party of values” has none.
War and Mongers of War 0
Thom wonders just how many wars America has been lied into.
This New Gilded Age 0
Methinks Michael in Norfolk has figured it out. Here’s a bit of his post:
Inventorying Ignorance, Vaccine Nation Dept. 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, Stephen Neely and Kaila Witkowski report on the results of a survey that they conducted regarding Floridians’ beliefs about COVID and vaccines. Among other things, they found a significant split on party lines:
Follow the link for the numbers.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Settle arguments with your romantic partner with politeness.
Sic Semper Tyrannis? 0
At Psychology Today Blogs. Neel Burton takes an in-depth look at what classical philosophers–Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Seneca, etc.–had to say about tyranny. All of them had intimate knowledge of, and, in many cases, first-hand experience with tyrannical rulers.
In the course of the article, he suggests three conditions that must be met to hold tyranny at bay. In the context of dis coarse discourse, they give rise to feelings of–er–unease (emphasis added):
Second, we need to think more carefully about education, and what it means to be educated. Unless we transform ourselves by carrying out the work of the mind, we could be millionaires, like Nero, or Putin, and still be miserable. Playing the tyrant, and taking everyone down with us, is not, as Seneca reminds us, what human beings are for.
Third, a country’s constitution or political settlement must contain sufficient safeguards to prevent or arrest the rise of a potential tyrant, or simply of a less than decent or competent leader. This is not the case in the U.S. and no longer the case in the U.K. . . .
I find the entire piece timely, indeed, alarmingly so, and commend it to your attention.
QOTD 0
Alexander Morton, in the voice of Golly Mackenzie:
You come into this life naked, wet, and cold. Then things really get bad.
Site Unseen 0
When I worked for the railroad, I took the train to New York more times than I can remember. The first view of New York was the towers of the World Trade Center above the New Jersey bluffs before the train entered the tunnel to Penn Station.
Many years later, when I was no longer working for the railroad, I had occasion to take the train to New York. The first view of New York was no World Trade Center above the New Jersey bluffs before the train entered the tunnel to Penn Station.
Image via All Things Amazing, an image site (some images NSFW).
All That Is Old Is New Again 0
Emma talks with Kim Kelly about the resurgence of black lung disease. A quotation from Kim Kelly:
… coal bosses would rather make money than follow regulations and Republican politicians would rather cut regulations than help the coal miners they like to drag out for photo ops.
Read Kim Kelly’s article.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
Methinks that Emma Lazarus’s The New Collosus is in sore need of being brought up to date (the edit is italicized).
Herewith I offer an updated version:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
And I will assault them in the street.”
If you look carefully, you can find why I recommend the revision.
