Author's archive
The Disinformation Superhighway, Bad Fad Dept. 0
Robert Bartholomew, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, takes a look at the role of “social” media in popularizing bad fads. A snippet (emphasis added):
Being part of an internet challenge by filming and uploading one’s exploits can make it seem more acceptable and strengthen the connection to one’s online peers. It can also foster a feeling that ‘everyone’s doing it so it must be OK.’ The ‘Orbeez Challenge’ is the latest in a long list of potentially dangerous internet fads. One recent social media challenge involved daring someone to swallow a spoonful of powdered cinnamon without any water. The so-called ‘Cinnamon Challenge’ has resulted in several students being hospitalized with breathing problems from the fine powder entering their lungs, causing inflammation and scarring.
Cavalcade of Crazy 0
(Note: Unrelated phone call about COVID prevention efforts in Davis County, CA, starts at the 3:41 mark.)
Aside:
I’ve read the Bible through six times in two different translations. It gave me great comfort in one of the worst times of my life, now some decades ago. I can assure you that Jesus said nothing about shooting Commies–or anyone else, for that matter–in the face.
If you are looking for a readable English translation of the Bible, I recommend the Jerusalem Bible. It’s the only contemporary translation I’ve encountered that combines readability with an elegance of language that can stand with the KJV.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another responsible gun owner demonstrates his sense of responsibility.
“But the Emails” 0
No, not Hillary’s. John Eastman’s.
The Crypto-Con 0
Sam, Emma, and their guest (who is unfortunately not named in the notes) discuss the cons behind the con.
Aside:
I find it somewhat curious that the same persons who complain about “fist currencies” are all in on the most fiat of all “fiat currencies.”
The American Quack-Up, Medicine Show Dept. 0
Josh Gohlke is somewhat taken aback at Americans’ susceptibility to the false claims of the right-wing medicine show. Here’s a bit of his article; follow the link for more evidence of stupid.
The disinformation-industrial complex is so devoted to this chimera that it’s accused Paxlovid, the drug that works, of being a repackaged version of the dewormer, coining the term “Pfizermectin.
Recommended Listening 0
The Window at the White Cat, by Mary Roberts Rinehart. It is a good mystery well written and well read.
The persons who read for Librivox.org are volunteers, and some of them do better than others. The person who recorded this is one of the best I’ve encountered.
Facebook Frolics 0
Badtux sees into the future, when all have been assimilated by the Zuckerborg.
Afterthought:
In the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, I read a lot of science fiction; I particularly favored Asimov and Heinlein (Heinlein was rather a jerk, but he was a good writer). I drifted away from science fiction when it became dystopian realistic. I think the last contemporary science fiction book I read was Beyond the Blue Event Horizon.
I remember reading a story, written in the 1950s or 1960s, in which the writer envisioned a world like that described by Badtux, in which persons remained in their rooms glued to their television sets (it was long before personal computers were a thing, or even an idea).
But I can’t for the life of me remember who wrote it.