April, 2024 archive
Disseminators of Defamation, or Accountability for the No Account 0
Sam and Emma talk with Mark Bankston, partner at the law firm Farrar & Ball, about a new case that he is taking up. A quote from Bankston:
“Today, my co-counsel Greg Adler and I filed suit against Fox, Newsmax, Univision, Timcast, Steven Crowder, Owen Shroyer, Simon Ateba, and Hollywood Unlocked for falsely portraying our innocent client as a neo-Nazi mass shooter.”
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
An oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” jumps to a conclusion–a wrong conclusion–and concludes an innocent person’s life.
We are a broken society.
Patriot Gamers 0
Aside:
I do not think it a stretch to suggest that today’s Republican Party, at the portion of it in the House of Representatives, is not interested in (small-d) democratic governance.
It is interested in dictating getting its way.
And Now for a Musical Interlude 0
The Lord Peter Wimsey BBC theme song.
If you have not read Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter mysteries, do so now. They are most excellent.
My favorite is Murder Must Advertise.
A Sure Thing 0
At The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jonathan Zimmerman looks at the effects of the sudden burst of sports betting and, in particular, the advertisements therefor. He is less than optimistic. A snippet:
Methinks he makes some good points and commend the article to your attention.
Aside:
I find the spate of solicitations for suckers to be most off-putting.
And the thought of a betting app on a phone, well, that’s an invitation to dumb scrolling.
To Live in the Past 0
Thom looks back in time and finds context.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
One again, politeness becomes a family affair.
“You can see her legs buckle. It appears that she’s in pain. It appears that something happens to her leg and we know that she was shot. So those cameras at McDonald’s did capture that,” said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
But new video obtained by police reportedly shows the father getting out of his car and putting the firearm in his pants when it suddenly discharged.
This New Gilded Age, One More Time 0
The rich get richer . . . .
Due in part to the 2017 tax overhaul by Republicans, led by Donald Trump, this small group has seen an explosion of wealth in an extremely short amount of time.
Since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, U.S. billionaire wealth has doubled, from an already staggering $2.9 trillion. In 2017, none of the richest Americans were centi-billionaires, meaning that they did not have over $100 billion; now, the top 10 U.S. billionaires are all centi-billionaires, according to the report.
More numbers at the link.
Geeking Out 0
One of my computers died after long and faithful service, so I’ve been having fun tweaking my new one, which I ordered with the Debian Linux OS and the Plasma desktop environment. In a few more days, I’ll have it set up to my satisfaction. In the meantime, I’ve others to use, as the Going Linux guys say, to get stuff done.
I must say, I was somewhat taken aback. I ordered it Sunday night and it arrived, configured to my specifications, on Wednesday, much earlier than I expected.
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
This New Gilded Age 0
Robert Reich explains that monopolies are back (mostly, in my opinion, thanks to Reagan’s trickle-on economics) and points out that the Biden administration is trying to bust it some trusts.
Or you can read the transcript.
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
Now comes Charles Dew, writing at the Tampa Bay Times, documenting an echo.
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*Mark Twain.
Numbers Gaming 0
Sam and the crew dissect the deception.
