Personal Musings category archive
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.
The Crypto Conundrum 0
If it’s not real in the first place, can you be penalized for stealing it?
Stray Thought 0
It occurs to me that the fatal flow in Tesla’s self-driving car fantasy is that the developers–and Elon Musk–think that life is a video game.
The Buck Stops 0
Many years ago, back when I lived in Delaware and worked in Philadelphia, we purchased a Yorkie puppy from an Amish farmer in Lancaster County, Pa. (I know the farmer was not running a puppy mill, as the puppy was roaming free in his yard, as was the puppy’s mother, who came over to wish him good-bye before we loaded him into the car and drove off.)
The puppy grew up to be a good and valued member of the family and a constant source of love and joy. As our other dog at the time was a Black Lab, Tucker the Yorkie eventually convinced himself that he also was a Black Lab, but that is a whole bunch of other stories. Like the time we had a foot and a half of snow and Beau the Black Lab jumped into it and frolicked about. Tucker the Yorkie jumped in after him and disappeared.
Which reminds me that Beau the Black Lab used to play with Mittens the Cat. Mittens would be lying in her favorite chair at the kitchen table; Beau would come up and stick his nose up so she could slap at it. As long as she kept slapping at it, he kept waving it about. He was a kind and good-hearted dog . . . but I digress.
Anyway, what prompted me to remember Tucker the Yorkie was this:
The check we wrote to pay for Tucker the Yorkie did not bounce, unlike the check that George Santos wrote when he bought dogs from an Amish farmer.
Aside:
I pity those dogs.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
As read and listen to and hear pious words honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on this day dedicated to his memory, I find myself remembering that many powerful figures are working diligently to undo everything that he worked for and toward; and that, empowered by the permission granted them by Donald Trump, they are more brazen about it than they have dared be for decades.
America’s original sin of chattel slaver continues to haunt.
A Sticker Story 0
After we voted in the special election on Tuesday, we went out for breakfast.
Now, I normally refuse the “I Voted” sticker that poll workers hand out (I believe that the folks who don’t vote should wear the stickers–big red ones on their foreheads, but that’s another matter). This time, though, I accepted it.
As we were waiting for our breakfast, a stranger came over and asked, “You voted?” (I reckon because of that little sticker.)
I said we had. Then he said, “I want to vote. Did you have to go down to city hall?” (That’s where the early voting takes place in my city and it’s way on the other side of town.)
I answered, “No. It’s an election day. Your regular polling place should be open.”
He thanked me and left.
I hope he voted the right way, but I’m glad he cared enough to vote.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Methinks Steve M. has a point when he says:
(His complete article is at the link.)
Afterthought:
We look forward to two years of a House of Representatives ruled by persons (at least profess to) believe that Fox News speaks truth.
I am not sanguine.
“What It Was, Was Football”* 0
In aftermath of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field (happily he seems to be recovering), Randall Balmer wonders what Americans find so enticing about so dangerous a sport. A snippet:
Which brings us back to the question about whether there is something about American society that draws us – myself included, by the way – to the carnage of football.
Aside:
I used to be a football fan. I looked forward to watching all the bowl games on New Year’s Day and a number that were not on New Year’s Day; I rooted for several NFL teams over the years. Now, though, I’ve lost all interest in football. The games have gotten far too long, the NFL owners are a mostly a bunch of jerks, and the NCAA is only in it for the money. (Indeed, the only sporting organization of which I have a lower opinion than of the NCAA is FIFA.)
My weekends are much more peaceful, relaxing, and productive now.
________________________
*With apologies to Andy Griffith.
