From Pine View Farm

Author's archive

One Thing Is Not Like the Other Thing 0

Frame One, captioned

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A Sticker Story 0

After we voted in the special election on Tuesday, we went out for breakfast.

Now, I normally refuse the “I Voted” sticker that poll workers hand out (I believe that the folks who don’t vote should wear the stickers–big red ones on their foreheads, but that’s another matter). This time, though, I accepted it.

As we were waiting for our breakfast, a stranger came over and asked, “You voted?” (I reckon because of that little sticker.)

I said we had. Then he said, “I want to vote. Did you have to go down to city hall?” (That’s where the early voting takes place in my city and it’s way on the other side of town.)

I answered, “No. It’s an election day. Your regular polling place should be open.”

He thanked me and left.

I hope he voted the right way, but I’m glad he cared enough to vote.

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Facebook Frolics 0

A Brady bunch of frolics.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Methinks Steve M. has a point when he says:

Republicans aren’t in disarray. They agree on the agenda. They’re doing what they promised to do during the 2022 campaign, when they thought they’d win a big majority in the House. There’s no GOP dissent now, and there was none in the fall when these things — endless investigations and budget brinkmanship intended to slash the social safety net — were brought up.

(His complete article is at the link.)

Afterthought:

We look forward to two years of a House of Representatives ruled by persons (at least profess to) believe that Fox News speaks truth.

I am not sanguine.

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The True Believer 0

He worships the NRA’s leaden idol.

NRA member reading news story about the six-year-old who shot his teacher says,

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The Privatization Scam 0

John Geyman explains what “Medicare Advantage” should more properly be described as Medicare Disadvantage.

Here’s one of the reasons he cites; follow the link for the rest.

Private insurers regularly profiteer by getting chart reviews of enrollees to find additional diagnoses in order to increase their risk scores and overstate the severity of their illnesses, then “upcoding” their bills to gain higher reimbursements. Through this kind of risk adjustment, Medicare Advantage plans have cost taxpayers and the federal government $143 billion more than traditional Medicare over the past 12 years.

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QOTD 0

Fernando Pessoa:

Every man who deserves to be famous knows it is not worth the trouble.

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And Now for Something Completely Different 0

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Brad Baldwin makes a persuasive case that the flood of mis- and disinformation on “social” media is a major reason why persons vote against their own (and the country’s) best interests.

I commend his piece to your attention.

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One Thing Is Not Like the Other Thing 0

Sam documents the return of false equivalence.

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“What’s in a Name” 0

The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini suggests an answer to that question:

When a group of unhinged extremists call themselves a “freedom” caucus you can be sure they believe in just the opposite.

Follow the link to review his evidence.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Yet another oxymoronic responsible gun owner . . . .

Musical NotesGuns 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.

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The Wind Was Sown Long Ago . . . . 0

If you have paid any attention to the news, you’ve no doubt heard of the six-year-old who shot his teacher with his mother’s gun. (Here’s the latest as of the time I write this.)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier, says, to bluntly paraphrase him, that there’s no surprises here.

Here’s a bit from his column; I urge you to read the rest.

“This,” said Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones, “is a red flag for the country.”

Respectfully, Mayor, you new to this country?

This country did not lose its gun-loving mind last Friday. It took decades upon decades of ill-conceived arguments, millions upon millions of gun lobby dollars, and generations upon generations of gutless politicians to make this a country with more guns than people, a country with less than 5 % of the world’s population holding 40 percent of its civilian-owned weaponry.

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The Crypto Con 0

By the skin of our teeth, according to David Dayen. A snippet; follow the link for his reasoning.

The implosion of what’s been unmasked as a criminal enterprise at FTX has created a chain reaction, where lost faith, pullbacks on trading volume, and potentially similar schemes at FTX competitors are devastating the nascent asset class. It should reinforce the fact that the government’s success in keeping crypto out of the broader financial system was the most important regulatory action of the past decade.

Via Atrios.

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QOTD 0

David Sedaris:

I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.

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A Tune for the Times, Republican Family Values Dept. 0

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Copywrongs 2

Above the Law has the text of the letter sent to Marjorie Taylor Greene when she used one of Dr. Dre’s songs in a “social” media post. The political nature of the post meant that, under copyright law, permission was required to use the song.

In this case, Greene used Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.” as the musical backing for her Kevin McCarthy hype video — there’s four words you won’t see in a sentence ever again — and that’s not the sort of thing you can do without a license.

The letter itself? Well, it’s a gem.

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At the Crossed Roads 0

At The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rick Diguette takes a look at why we seem to be stalled at dysfunction junction.

No excerpt or summary can do justice to his writing. Just read it.

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The Next Target 0

Mob of Republicans storms a Senior Center.  One resident says to another,

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“Shared Sacrifice” 0

Sam suggests the Fed thinks that the peons are getting too big for their breeches because said peons are not willing to sacrifice food and shelter for the greater good return to shareholders.

Methinks he has a point.

Aside:

The economic theory that Sam savages represents the poisonous economic theory of the Chicago School at its most poisonous–that somehow putting persons out of work promotes prosperity, a concept that I find oxymoronic in the extreme.

Prosperity for whom? Certainly not for those who end up in homeless camps because they cannot afford a place to live. Of course, one can’t have ugly homeless camps ruining the vista, so the next step is to bulldoze them and scatter their inhabitants.

Thereby we achieve the greater good return to shareholders.

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From Pine View Farm
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