Personal Musings category archive
Lost in the Machine 0
Boy, am I glad that my kids were out of the house before this stuff came along.
Discussion Question 0
In today’s politics, can the United States be said to truly have a “loyal opposition,” as defined by Merriam-Webster?
Merriam-Webster’s definition:
Support your answer with concrete examples.
Thought on the Day 0
“Jingoism” and “patriotism” are not the same thing.
Stray Thought, Mongers of Hate Dept. 0
Mark Twain observed that history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
Methinks that there is a rhyme between the current kerfuffle over gay and trans kids and rumors of groomers and Joe McCarthy’s “Red Scare” of the 1950s.
Just off the top of my head: Both were created and promoted by politicians craving power and influence, both tap visceral emotions and fears, both glorify victimizing innocents, both allow persons to feel virtuous about irrational and unjust acts.
Stray Question 0
Instead of bulldozing homeless encampments, why not do something to house the homeless?
On second thought, that might promote the general welfare.
Why, that must most certainly be unconstitutional.
Recommended Viewing 0
Havaiian Eye, if you can find it.
It was easily one of the best-written detective television shows of its era.
Stray Question 0
How is this headline not about politics?
Believe It When They Tell You Who They Are 0
I was stopped at a light yesterday next to car with a bumper sticker that read
DEPLORABLE.
I shall take him at his word.
Recommended Viewing 0
It’s been on our DVR for some time and we finally got around to watching it. It is quite well done.
And its depiction of the segregated Virginia that I grew up in–well, there are those amongst us who are working most energetically to bring those times back, while at the same time pretending that they never existed in the first place.
All the News that Gives Us Fits 0
Atrios suggests that it might be a good idea to avoid cable news.
I would go further. I avoid broadcast news altogether, except for certain local news websites, When broadcast news changed from being a loss leader to a profit center–when it begin to value “eyeballs” over accuracy, “engagement” over integrity–it went into–er–descent.
The Climates, They are a-Changing 0
When I was a young ‘un, growing up these parts (actually about 40 miles north of where I type this), tornadoes were unheard of.
They were something that happened in Kansas.
Stray Thought 0
I do not think it an understatement to suggest that “social” media provides incentives that encourage persons to draw attention to themselves with statements of questionable veracity.
To put it another way, “social” media rewards liars for lying.
Stray Thought 0
My friend, upon receiving an appeal from the Heart Association:
What if there were a heartless association?
Me:
There is. It’s called the Republican Party.
A Modest Proposal 0
At The Roanoke Times, Karen Gilbert, who survived the mass shooting at Virginia Tech a decade and a half ago (how much more numb have have become since then?), offers a modest proposal for dealing with American’s red tide of gunnuttery. A snippet:
She is an optimist if she thinks that, as a society, we are willing to learn from others, especially as regards (some) Americans’ fervid fetish for portable phalluses.
After all, America is exceptional; just ask it.
Exceptional in that we can’t even learn from ourselves.
Why would we learn from others?
Recommended Reading 0
If you’re a mystery buff, as I have been since I bought my first 35-cent Perry Mason Pocketbook paperback back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, check out William D. Andrews’s novels.
The stories are told through the eyes of Julie Williamson, director of an historical society in a small town in western Maine. The plots may not rise to the level of, say, Agatha Christie, in terms of being tightly woven, but the author makes the characters become real. In the second novel, Breaking Ground, one of the characters was so creepy in a real life way that he reminded me of persons I have known and dealt with.
If you want fast-paced and hard-boiled, these are not the books for you.
If you want realistic characters and real-life atmosphere, try one out.
Too Close for Comfort 0
I have been watching the Netflix “docuseries” Dirty Money. I recommended it once and I would recommend it again.
But I couldn’t bring myself to watch this episode.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Katharine Trendacosta, writing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, takes a look at Elon Musk’s stewardship sewership of Twitter. A snippet:
Follow the link for her reasoning.
Aside:
As I may have mentioned, about the time of Twitter’s creation, I heard an interview with one of its founders on my local NPR station (WHYY in Philly at the time–I forget who was the interviewer and who was being interviewed); the person who was being interviewed droned on and on about how this new thing was going to contribute to the discourse.
The interview convinced me to have nothing whatsoever to do with Twitter, and I’ve never regretted that. But I have also watched as Twitter became a go-to outlet for many of moment. I have watched as (far too) many persons came to rely on it for news, information, and commentary. And I will concede that, before Musk at least, Twitter as an organization did not seem to have an agenda other than to grow itself; it bumbled and it fumbled, but it usually tried–with mixed results–to get it right.
(In a larger context, I have become convinced that “social” media isn’t. It amplifies asinine and drowns out dutiful, magnifies mendacity and disrespects data, as its secret algorithms suck users down labyrinthine rabbit holes of hate and hostility so as to “attract eyeballs” amd “foster engagement.”)
Still, it’s a shame to watch Musk mangle something that had risen at least to the level of mediocre.
Stray Question 0
Does the Republican Party remember–or care–that one of the words in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag which they claim to revere is “indivisible”?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Aside:
The next few weeks may serve to answer that question.
The Way-Back Machinationist 0
Anthony Dixon argues that
DeSantis has chosen education as a tool to set this country back 100 years.
His reasoning is spot on (follow the link for details), but methinks his math is off.
A more accurate figure is 164 years.
Precisely 164 years.