From Pine View Farm

First Looks category archive

Break Time 0

Off to drink liberally.

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

Caption:  Fake News.  Image:  Dominoes bearing the logos of social media companies crashing towards a reporter doing an interview.

Click to view the original image.

One more time, “social” media isn’t.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society’ 0

Yet another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” exposes a child to politeness.

In the United States, there are now more guns than people.

Make no mistake: the common denominator in all these incidents is not the responsible gun owners, nor is it the victims, children or otherwise. It’s not even the stupid.

It’s the guns.

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The Anti-Social Algorithm 0

Emma talks with Dr. Nicholas Kardaras about how and why “social” media isn’t.

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Driving to Distraction 0

Caption:  Lawmakers debate bill to dramatically increase fines for people handling cell phones while driving.  Image:  Woman in car with two hands on the wheel, one hand holding a cup of coffee, and one hand holding a cell phone to her ear says into phone,

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

Snopes debunks nine deepfake photos (purporting to be) of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Recommended Viewing 0

If you have Netflix, check out the Murdaugh Murders.

It’s an excellent and moving documentary. There is no narrator; it’s told through the voices of those who were there compiled from interviews and live footage.

It’s also timely. The verdict just came down.

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The Climates They Are a-Changing 0

Greta Thunberg follows the money.

Aside:

Yesterday, I had to turn on the AC for a short while to drive some of the humidity out of the house. A few hours after I turned it off (it had done its job), the temperature dropped 30 Fahrenheits in about three hours.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Yet again, politeness becomes child’s play.

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Break Time 0

Off to drink liberally.

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To Demote the General Welfare . . . . 0

Michael Hiltzik skewers the specious sophistries being used to push for raising the age of eligibility for social security. A snippet; follow the link, where he debunks more bunk.

As for whether it’s “easier” to work into one’s 70s than it used to be, that may be true for authors of think tank papers in air conditioned offices, but perhaps not for the millions of Americans who spent their careers hauling, digging, driving and building, outside in the elements.

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Don’t Look–You Might See Something 0

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The Crypto Con 0

Where were Crockett and Tubbs when Miami needed them?

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Selfie, Origins Issue 0

Woman circa the turn of the Twentieth Century taking a portrait in a mirror with a very early camera.

Via All Things Amazing, an image site (some images NSFW).

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Foxy Shaded 0

Fox News gets pantsed.

Aside:

As they trade in fiction, one would think they would recognize fict–oh, never mind.

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Phoning It In 0

Frame One:  Man talking loudly on cell phone at bar:  YEAH, FRED, WE CAN EITHER FIX IT TODAY OR FRIDAY.  CALL ME.   555-1212.  Frame Two:  Rat dials his cell.  Frame Three:  Man answer cell phone with a quiet

Click for the original image.

Afterthought:

It occurs to me, as I watch persons go about with their faces buried in their “devices,” that said devices’ algorithms, designed to “attract eyeballs” and “promote engagement,” lead said persons to forget that they are amidst real persons in a real world.

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The Pro-Corruption Caucus 0

Sue Fothergill wonders why the Republican House has chosen to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics:

Is there a massive pro-corruption movement I’m not aware of that is demanding this?

Follow the link for the rest.

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QOTD 0

Kathy Reichs:

. . . emptier than a politician’s heart.

Reichs, Kathy, Mortal Remains (New York: Random House, 2010), p. 68.

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Break Time 0

Off to drink liberally.

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