From Pine View Farm

Hate Sells category archive

All the News that Fits 0

Margaret Sullivan reminds us that it’s important to consider the source.

This is especially important if the story is spreading on “social” media.

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A Tale of the Trumpling 0

The Washington Post’s Stephanie McCrummen follows an Alice down the Trumpian rabbit hole.

No excerpt or summary can do this report justice.

Just read it. It is–er–disquieting.

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Fundamentals of Fundamentalism 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Araya Baker explores religious fundamentalism, which he refers to as a “political-religious” movement, as distinct from a purely religious one. He notes that

. . . it is imperative that we understand how religious fundamentalism threatens democracy. This public scholarship is intended to be used as a condensed primer that disassembles the ideology to 1) illustrate how and why it spans all religious doctrines and 2) how it differs from healthy spirituality, so that valid critiques of fundamentalism can pre-empt conflation with anti-theism.

I commend his piece to your attention, particularly for the list of characteristics that he suggests is common to fundamentalist movements, whether they be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist.

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Real Big Men 0

PoliticalProf.

Read the back story here.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

At the Washington Monthly, Paul Finkelman argues that Florida Governor DeSantis and his “Don’t Say Gay” law stand squarely in the middle of a long tradition of suppressing speech in the American South, a tradition which, like so many of the negative aspects of our society, ultimately reaches back to racism and slavery.

Follow the link for his reasoning.

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Mandating Molestation, Reprise 0

Sam and his crew discuss the Republican war on trans persons.

Aside:

The number of trans people is minuscule.

The number of people driven absolutely bonkers by the very idea of trans people is appalling.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Florida Man wants to resurrect Pravda with a Southern accent.

The blatant obviousness of it does rather take one aback, does it not?

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Targeted practice.

Read more »

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“Love Thy Neighbor” “Do Unto Others” (Updated) 0

Addendum:

Michael in Norfolk addresses the same subject.

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

Now you can pay for your propaganda.

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Short Attention Span Theatre, Florida Man Dept. 0

Farron points out, “You gotta pay attention the follow through.”

He has a point. Too often in the haste to chase breaking news, neither the media nor its audience and readers pay attention to the rest of the story.

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Karen Karen-Like 0

A vente with a side of vile.

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“But It’s the Only Possible Explanation” 0

Outlandish conspiracy theories seem to be going mainstream; think the “great replacement,” which Tucker Carlson has been touting to his large audience, just to pick one example from many.

At Psychology Today Blogs, Sara Gorman and Jack M. Gorman take a look at what might make persons receptive to conspiracy theories. It’s a particularly worthwhile read at this juncture. A snippet (emphasis added):

Especially recently, the tie between conspiracy theories and extremist political and social beliefs is undeniable. QAnon, with its very clear white supremacist undertones, is a good example of this. The beliefs spouted by “Q” and his or her followers are particularly “moralist” in nature, suggesting that the “enemy” is unthinkably evil. This enemy is not only the opposite political party but also very often any group that might be maligned by Q’s followers, including Black people, immigrants, and Jews. After being marginalized from politics for so long, the alt-right, neo-Nazis, and neo-Fascists certainly saw the value of QAnon to help them shoulder their way back into the political mainstream, and they were often successful.

Follow the link for the authors’ theories about what makes some persons predisposed to drink this poisonous pilsner.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Twits on Twitter 0

Twits who would suffer the children.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Charles Blow thinks he may have uncovered a common denominator in America’s epidemic of gunnuttery.

No other country has the level of American carnage, but no other country has American Republicans.

Follow the link for his explanation of that statement.

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Chaos Agents 0

The Arizona Republic’s Elvira Diaz explains.

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

Both in raw numbers and on a percentage basis, the United States has one of the worst responses to COVID-19. At Psychology Today Blogs, Clifford Lazarus looks at how disinformation, spread largely on the disinformation superhighway, has contributed to this and, indeed, has harmed to polity in general.

He makes three main points.

  • Misinformation results in a dangerous erosion of trust because it makes it very hard for people to share a common set of agreed upon facts.
  • Without trust in one another our country will fracture and fragment creating a vicious circle leading to the decay of our democracy.
  • Misinformation is very deadly and highly “contagious.”

Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each.

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Our Own Tower of Babel 0

In a fascinating discussion, David interviews Jonathan Haidt about what led to our becoming a society of stupid (hint: “social” media isn’t).

Read Haidt’s article.

(Missing word found.)

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The Gun Nut Party 0

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