From Pine View Farm

July, 2024 archive

QOTD 0

Stacy Keach, in the voice of Mike Hammer:

Forget Vegas and Atlantic City. Wall Street is the ultimate casino.

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The Privatization Scam 0

Arizona’s state budget is in big trouble because of the privatization scam. That’s something you can voucher on.

Here’s a bit of the report from ProPublica:

Advocates for Arizona’s universal voucher initiative had originally said that it wouldn’t cost the public — and might even save taxpayers money. The Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank that helped craft the state’s 2022 voucher bill, claimed in its promotional materials at the time that the vouchers would “save taxpayers thousands per student, millions statewide.” Families that received the new cash, the institute said, would be educating their kids “for less than it would cost taxpayers if they were in the public school system.”

But as it turns out, the parents most likely to apply for these vouchers are the ones who were already sending their kids to private school or homeschooling. They use the dollars to subsidize what they were already paying for.

Much more at the link.

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Trumpnado 0

Two sharks sitting in easy chairs, one on a cell phone and the other reading

Via Job’s Anger.

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“There Is No Auto-Pilot Setting for Democracy” 0

Seth points out that previous generations have had to fight to protect democracy and that, now, it’s our turn. He notes that what we don’t need are the “opportunistic purveyors of paranois, suspicion, and fear, who have already rushed to fill the void with incendiary conspiracy theories and lies.”

Aside:

I got three texts purporting to be from J. D. Vance yestoday. (Why he would text me, I have no idea, but, each time, I blocked the number.)

Each one addressed me as “Patriot.”

Coming from the likes of him, that word becomes an insult.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Police say a 4-year-old child in the home had found a loaded firearm in the basement.

“While the child was touching the firearm, it discharged causing a projectile to pass through the ceiling of the basement and through the floor of the main level and into a sibling’s foot on the main level of the home,” according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 3rd District Court.

One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.

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The Republican Contract on America 0

Rebecca Watson takes a look at the “Heritage” Foundation’s Project 2025 (warning: mild language):

Or you can read the transcript.

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Defensive Driving 0

H. Colleen Sinclair offers some pointers about how to safely navigate the Disinformation Superhighway.

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Courting Disaster 0

Joe Patrice dissects the duplicity of Cannon’s law.

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QOTD 0

John Stuart Mill:

A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Myth Buster 0

In the course of a longer article how, in evaluating candidates for office, we need to look at the big picture when evaluating candidates for office, the Portland Press-Herald’s Victoria Hugo-Vidal makes a trenchant observation (emphasis added):

It’s a common misconception that Republicans want a smaller government. The party does not. Republicans may want smaller government for themselves and their various rich donors, but they want a bigger government to use as a hammer against Americans who aren’t living the way they want them to.

Follow the link for context.

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A Moment of Reflection 0

Newswoman:  Our top story this hour--the shocking attempt on the former president's life.  Newsman:  Americans everywhere are asking--how could this specific instance of violence have occurred in our deeply violent society.  Newswoman:  Has a country where people wonder every day if their children will get caught in a school shooting finally lost its innocence?  Newsman:  Our correspondent Betty McBettie is on the scene.  (Switch to Betty McBettie interviewing MAGA-hatted man.)  Betty McBettie:  Does this vicious attack make you reconsider the Republican Party's support for unrestricted gun ownership?  MAGA-hatted Man:  Good Lord, no.  What kind of question is that?  Obviously the only appropriate response is thoughts and prayers.  Anyway, this was the media's fault.  I despise you with the fire of a thousand suns.  I can't wait until Trump wins and executes you all for treason.  Betty McBettie:  I see.  Well, thank you for your fascination perspective.  (Back to the station.)  Newsman:  Thanks, Betty.  Coming up next, do both sides have a problem with violent rhetoric?  We'll see what Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert think.  Newswoman:  Also, a special report on Joe Biden being old, just because.  Newsman:  First, these messages.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

Now it is Darryl Cornelius in the Law Vegas Sun who hears a rhyme.

________________

*Mark Twain.

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How Stuff Works: Greedflation 0

Gabby is behind her lemonade stand where lemonade is priced at $1.00.  Michael says,

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Politeness was in the bag.

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When Words Come Back To Haunt . . . . 0

PoliticalProf notes the irony.

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QOTD 0

Jesse Owens:

Although I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

The Wizard of Id gestures over his crystal ball.  He says,

Click to view the original image.

One more time, “social” media isn’t.

Indeed, methinks “social” media has contributed mightily to the coarseness of dis coarse discourse. Persons on “social” media forget that their discourse is public and have turned the public arena into a locker roon.

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American Taliban 0

Sam and the crew discuss Josh Hawley’s attempt to normalize right-wing evangelical they-call-themselves Christians.

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Waiting for Old Number 2025 0

Title:  The Republican Platform.  Image:  Uncle Sam stands on train station labeled

Via Job’s Anger.

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