From Pine View Farm

A Tune for the Times 0

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Swamping the Drain 0

Uncle Sam, labeled

Via Job’s Anger.

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It’s Bubblelicious 0

What’s bubblelicious? you may ask.

Per Hillary Remy in the Charlotte Observer, according to the Warren Buffett’s Buffett Indicator, the economy is about as bubblelicious as it’s ever been.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes.”* 0

Emma talks with Gil Duran about the implications of the Palantir Manifesto and hears a rhyme that sounds a lot like “Mussolini.”

____________________

*Mark Twain.

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The Tip-Off 0

One Klansman says to another,

Click for the original image.

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Influencer Idiocy 0

Methinks Atrios makes a good point.

Even if it’s called “social” media, there’s nothing particularly “social” about jumping up and down while shouting “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!” all the time.

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Unintended Conclusions 0

Writing at The Japan Times, Sonia Dunlop and Takeaki Masukawa argue that, if there’s one thing Donald Trump’s war of choice with Iran and the resulting disruption to the international oil trade should teach us, it’s this:

The only short- and long-term answer is to rapidly deploy renewable energy like solar and battery storage, at scale and at speed — building reliable energy systems rooted in domestic generation instead of rollercoaster commodity markets.

Go read their article.

Aside:

I find this somewhat ironic, given Donald Trump’s well-documwented hatred of windmills and solar panels.

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QOTD 0

Isaac Asimov:

Creationists make it sound as though a ‘theory’ is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Apparently, one of those “responsible gun owners” lost track of his portable phallus.

On the afternoon of April 2, a D.C. police captain was at Level99 — a large entertainment center that bills itself as an adult playground with more than 50 physical and mental challenges in themed rooms — when he lost his personal weapon while playing a game, Fairfax County police said.

A teen found the weapon, thought it was a prop and pulled the trigger, investigators said. No one was shot.

One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.

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Vaccine Nation 0

Sam and the crew discuss Pete Hegseth’s decision to not require military personnel to take the flu vaccine.

The stupid. It burns.

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It’s All about the Algorithm, Reprise 0

Rat, Pig, and a happy-looking lamg.  Rat:  Who's the sheep?  Pig:  That's Bliss, the happiest sheep in the world.  Rat:  What's her secret?  Meditation?  Yaga?  Therapy?  Pig:  She doesn't own a smart phone.  (Later)  Rat to Goat:  Wish I'd thought of that.

Click for the original image.

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It’s All about the Algorithm 0

At the Psychology Today website, Aigerim Alpysbekova explores why it’s hard to stop swimming in the cesspool scrolling through “social” media. A snippet:

Scrolling is a combination of habit formation, dopamine-driven reward systems, and emotional regulation (Turel et al., 2014). Apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are designed around variable rewards; you don’t know what you will see next, but it might be interesting, funny, or socially rewarding. This activates the brain’s dopamine system and reinforces the behavior.

Over time, the brain learns: “Feeling bored ? check phone ? get relief.”

(Misplet tag resplet.)

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Suffer the Children 0

We are again reminded that that’s not scripture. That’s a Republican family value.

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Stray Question 0

Big Tech is trying to force AI bots on us and simultaneously use them to suck up our personal information and use it for their own personal gain. So, the question is . . .. .

How is that not a corporate cyberattack on, well, everyone?

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QOTD 0

H. G. Wells:

Heresies are experiments in man’s unsatisfied search for truth.

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And Now for a Musical Interlude 0

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

In a much longer post about the many flaws in the Trump maladministration’s suit against the Southern Poverty Law Center, Above the Law’s Joe Patrice offers a theory as to the purpose of said performance artlessness:

It (the Trump maladministration–ed.) already got most of what it came for once the administration’s fellow traveler hate groups knew they had moles and the SPLC lost its ability to pay or even recruit future informants.

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American Stasi 0

Thom is not sanguine about the course IDE is taking.

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If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0

Bloody boxer labeled

Click for the original image.

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From Pine View Farm
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