Author's archive
Secret(ive) Police 0
Earlier this week I saw a report asserting that the Trump administration was, for all intents and purposes, deploying a force of what the commentator referred to as “brown shirts” in Portland, Oregon.
I chose to view it with several grains of salt, thinking it might be a little over the top.
I’m beginning to think that perhaps I dismissed it too cavalierly.
QOTD 0
Robert Goldsborough, in the voice of Archie Goodwin:
I was reminded by the look I got that being right does not guarantee popularity.
Goldsborough, Robert, Fade to Black (New York: Mysterious Press, 1990), p. 174
Borderline Disorder 0
It’s amazing what you can do with a Sawzall.
The Missing Link 0
Kyle Whitmire spots what’s missing (emphasis added):
The president can’t. Neither can officials who support him, not our elected leaders here in Alabama nor any in other states.
Reopening the economy is a goal. Not a plan.
Reopening schools is a goal. Not a plan.
Everyone shares these goals. Who doesn’t want to reopen the economy? Who doesn’t want to reopen schools? But only some understand there are steps we must take to reach them.
The Myth of the Middle 2
Ed at Gin and Tacos argues that our notion that the best course of action lies somewhere in the political middle of the road is a nosebag of hooey.
Afterthought:
That might have been true before the Republican Party, under Richard Nixon’s loathsome Southern Strategy, devolved from the party of Ev Dirksen and Nelson Rockefeller to the party of Tom Cotton and Louie Gohmert. (And if you don’t know who Ev Dirksen and Nelson Rockefeller were, you will find a wealth of information, some of it accurate, on the inner tubes.)
What’s in a Name? 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., explains.
Mask Misinformers 0
David Kyle Johnson debunks several articles purporting to prove that wearing masks will not help stem the spread of sickness in these viral times. A snippet:
But the more important question is “why?” If I published a paper that cited even one study that didn’t say what I said it did, I’d be paying for it academically for years. If I did it 42 times in one paper, I’d be drummed out of my profession. So why does she think she can get away with this?
Follow the link for his answer to that question.
Decoding De Code 0
E. J. Montini interprets the intimations.
Context 0
John Archibald unmasks a list of no-nos.