First Looks category archive

Off to drink liberally.

But, as David Horn points out at The Roanoke Times, it is not necessarily the family that you may be thinking of.

An oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” welcomes in the new year by taking the life of yet another child as his (or her, but probably his) celebratory bullets fall back to ground.

We are a society of stupid.

Gil Duran, a self-described “local journalist with fewer than 7,500 followers,” tells his story of getting banned from Twitter for asking a question. He contends that Elon Musk’s rule of Twitter is increasingly authoritarian and arbitrary. An excerpt; follow the link for his evidence.

By banning some of us, Musk is sending a message to everyone else: Comply with the dictator or lose access. Twitter has become a virtual simulation of authoritarian rule.

Paul Krugman is not surprised at Elon Musk’s antics in this, our new Gilded Age. Here’s a bit from his article:

. . . I’m not shocked by the spectacle of Elon Musk’s reputational self-immolation. Fascinated, yes; who isn’t? But when an immensely rich man, accustomed not just to getting whatever he wants but also to being a much-admired icon, finds himself not just losing his aura but becoming a subject of widespread ridicule, of course he lashes out erratically, and in so doing makes his problems even worse.

The more interesting question is why we’re now ruled by such people. For we’re clearly living in the age of the petulant oligarch.

Follow the link for his answer.

Yet another responsible gun owner demonstrates that self-politeness is the politest kind.

If you have Netflix, watch the Netflix serious, Roman Empire.

However, do not watch it in the series order. Watch it in chronological order: Season Two, about Julius Caeser; then Season Three, about Caligula; then Season One, about Commodus.

And, if you have never read Marcus Aurelius, consider doing so.

PoliticalProf.

If you have not done so, I highly recommend that you read Lena Horne’s autobiography.

Give me a break.

See the report that David discusses.

Grung_e_Gene decodes the code. A smippet:

It’s always important to understand what a Republican actually means when they say something; when Republicans or rightwingers denounce “Woke”, understand they are attacking basic human compassion.

Ignrance and stupidity that absolutely boggles the mind . . . .

Four centuries of history prove that vaccines protect humanity against disease, and now comes this guy to lobby in favor of propagating infection and death. Do they not remember polio?

And to compare getting the occasional injection so as to protect your own life and the lives of others to a lifetime of forced labor in order to line the pockets of your “owner”–well, I’ll stop now, for all I have left is profanity.

Today’s Republican Party is a vile and loathsome thing.

It’s been difficult for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year, perhaps because I’m watching my country fall apart before my eyes . . . .

But I finally got around to decorating my computer.

That’s Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager. I’m listening to Ten Years Later on the QMMP media player as xsnow decorates my screen. Dolphin is shaded near the top the screen as snow accumulates atop it.

Aside:

Bottomless is right.

Each is trying to reach for the bottom and neither has reached it yet.

Image via Juanita Jean.

Badtux reports that Twitter has plucked his last nerve.

Donald Trump has now licensed the selling NFTs of (what else?) him.

And this surprises you how?