Author's archive
Separation of Church and State
0
Der Spiegel takes a deep dive into the right-wing they-call-themselves Christians who (rather incongruously, considering Donald Trump’s history) wield great influence in the Trump maladministration. Their findings are not comforting. Here’s a tiny bit from the artilce:
(snip)
It sounds a lot more like radicalism than like faith. It is the attempt to turn the clock back by several decades, if not centuries – back to a time when men were still men and conflicts were solved with faith in God and a revolver. Jesus and Jesse James. The resuscitation of a quintessentially American myth. An overtly far-right response to left-wing identity politics seen as overly feminine and moralizing. And, ultimately, it is an attempt to dismantle the rule of law.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Methinks Michael in Norfolk has a valid wonder.
Irresponsible Fiscals 0
Farron argues persuasively that repeated threats of government shutdowns, plus an actual government shutdown, are ipso facto proof that today’s Republican Party is incapable of governance. (Warning: Mild language.)
But, as I pointed out earlier, governance is not their concern.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another “responsible gun owner,” another random act of politeness.
Another reminder that “accidentally” and “negligently” are not synonyms.
The Trumpling, in One Sentence 0
In a column musing on who will take get saddled with the blame for a (potential at the time the column was written) government shutdown, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier sums up the status quo.
It’s not pretty, but it is where we are.
Follow the link for the rest, in which Collier reveals that he is less than optimistic.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Abettors of awfulness? Per Cami Rosso at Psychology Today Blogs,
Follow the link for the data.
QOTD 0
Rex Stout:
There’s no point in being rude when you can end a conversation quicker by being polite.
Stout, Rex, Plot It Yourself (New York: Bantam, 1960) p. 77.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
The hunt for politeness continues.
(snip)
The DNR (Iowa Department of Natural Resources–ed.) said that the teen “was mistaken for a squirrel by a member of his hunting party and was struck in the back of the head.”
Anyone who can’t tell the difference between a squirrel and a human being is too stupid to be allowed to have a gu–oh, yeah, I forgot.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.
Republican Thought Police 0
Rebecca Watson looks at the Republican thought policing currently being exercised at Texas A&M University. (Warning: Mild language.)
Or you can read the transcript.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A reliable source of news? Grocery stores wouldn’t even display it in the check-out aisle.
The only thing artificial about “artificial intelligence” is the claim that it’s in any way intelligent.
Remember, it does not create. It merely regurgitates.
Stray Thought 0
Today’s Republican Party does not want to govern.
It wants to dictate.
A Legend in His Own Mind, Reprise 0
In the midst of a longer article considering how we might resist the Trump maladministration’s march towards dictatorship, Timothy Snyder makes what I find a most appropriate observation:
Follow the link for context.