First Looks category archive

Off to drink liberally.

When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, and my previously all-white high school started to integrate, suddenly two private all-white schools sprang up in my rural community (I think one of them still exists). To be blunt, they enrolled kids of white parents who were afraid of black folks.

That’s why we called them “seg academies.”

Those of us who stayed in the public schools and got to know and study and play sports with the black kids (who I am certain were carefully screened and chosen to be the early integrators of the previously all-white schools in those early days of integration) looked on those schools–well–somewhat contemptuously. We were in school with the black kids, we got to know them at least a bit, and we realized that they were people like us. True, we may not have gotten to know them all that well, but we got to know them enough to realize that they were human beings like us.

Later on, when I was well out of school, my mother, who was a math teacher, taught for many years in my county’s now-integrated school system. More than once, she told me that they had more problems from (oh what the heck, white) parents than they ever had from students. She was born and raised in South Carolina, but she was able to rise above prejudice to see persons.

And now comes Thom to point out that the proponents of seg academies are still around and still trying to pervert public education to promote racial prejudice.

Grung_e_Gene considers the carnage in car nation.

My hosting provider tells me that this site is scheduled for maintenance on November 8. They promise that disruption should be minimal, but the site may be unavailable for a bit.

Michael in Norfolk wonders why the right-wing increasingly acts like it hates America.

He theorizes that it may be because the American ideal–one never reached but often enunciated–of freedom and liberty for all may have become a little too close to being more than a mirage on the horizon. They want to put someone in charge to turn the clock back, if not to the 1850s, at least to the 1950s.. Here’s a bit of his piece:

. . . perhaps the main complaint of those on the right is increasingly they find opposition to their infliction of their antiquated and grievance driven beliefs on the whole of society. Hence, their support of authoritarian rule where they believe others will be made subordinate to they power and control.

Bloomberg columnist Lionel Laurent thinks this isn’t over yet. He notes that

Bankman-Fried’s fate looks sealed, with lengthy jail time likely to be ordered when he’s sentenced in March, but I don’t believe for a second that this will be the last crypto fraud.

Follow the link for his reasoning.

The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini writes of Maricopa County (AZ–ed.) Recorder Stephen Richer’s effort to hold Kari Lake accountable for her lies about the 2020 vote count in Arizona and of her attempt to be no account.

A snippet:

Losing Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake, now running for the U.S. Senate, is asking a judge to toss a defamation lawsuit filed against her by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.

It’s the ultimate whining admission of someone who can dish it out, but can’t take it.

Only in Lake’s case, what she dished out was dangerous.

Follow the link for the back story.

At the Austin American-Statesman, Rex Huppke writes about Texas Governor Abbott’s fixation with razor-wiring the border. He notes that Texas has now strung razor wire along part of the border between Texas and New Mexico. A snippet:

. . . the supposed intent of this decidedly dangerous fencing is to keep migrants who cross the Mexican border into New Mexico from making their way to Texas. Of course the actual intent has nothing to do with seriously addressing the issue of illegal immigration, a problem no border-state governor or presidential administration has ever been able to solve.

It’s a way for Abbott to pretend he’s tough on immigration while pillorying President Joe Biden’s border policies, which have focused more on addressing root causes than cruel stunts. It’s another thing Abbott can add to his “Nobody Is Crueler To Migrants Than Ol’ Greg!” vision board.

Remember, just because you see it on a computer device screen, it ain’t necessarily so.

At Psychology Today Blogs, Lawrence Samuel tries to make sense of All Hallows’ Eve and our fascination therewith. He notes:

Various scholars have argued that Halloween is rooted in human biology, specifically fear—an emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous or presents a threat. In scary situations, adrenaline and other hormones are released as the body prepares for fight or flight.

By constructing artificial threatening scenarios, however, we’re able to contain fear in a safe, socially endorsed manner.

He goes on to offer a theory as to why the Hallowe’en season seems to be getting bigger (and longer) every year.

Robert Reich follows the money.

I reserve the right to correct grammar, spelling, and syntax errors without notification.

If I broke it, I can fix it.

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

At Above the Law, Kathryn Rubino reports.Donald Trump’s legal team tries to go viral, citing fear of COVID.

The judge belayed their scheme:

Judge Arthur Engoron denied the request, wryly noting, “Masks are available. We are going to proceed.”

David Pakman notes the irony.

Seth parses the perfidy.

Afterthought:

To the best of my recollection, Congresspersons take an oath to support the Constitution, not to subvert it.

Debian Sid with the Fluxbox window manager. Thunderbird and Firefox are shaded in a tabbed window* and Konsole is shaded below them. Xclock is in the upper right; GKrellM in the lower right. The Fluxbox right-click menu is to the left (I do loves me the right-click menu). The wallpaper is from my collection.

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*A “tabbed window” is one in which two or more applications share the same title bar. You shift between them by clicking on the appropriate area on the title bar. I like tabbed windows because they reduce screen clutter.

Thom discusses how the New Secesh use the fear factor.

By the end of the month, two Alabama hospitals will stop delivering babies. A third will follow suit a few weeks later.

That will leave two counties — Shelby and Monroe — without any birthing hospitals, and strip a predominantly Black neighborhood in Birmingham of a sought-after maternity unit.

(snip)

The closures come as the need for obstetrics care in Alabama is anticipated to rise as a result of its abortion laws. The state has banned almost all abortions since June 2022.

The report points our that Alabama is not the only state where this is happening.

Much more at the link.