From Pine View Farm

The Father Stunt* 0

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*With apologies to Rex Stout.

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The Line of Defense 0

Woman standing inserting ballot into ballot box as Donald Trump lunges towards her.  The ballot box says,

Click to view the original image.

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This New Gilded Age, It’s Bubblelicious 0

Sam and Emma talk with Rob Larson, professor of economics at Tacoma Community College, about how today’s generation of Robber Barons are perverting the polity.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Jackie Calmes makes a compelling case that Donald Trump has shown us who he really is many times.

The question is, “Are enough people paying attention?”

Finish reading this post »

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Droning On 0

No surprises here.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Another case of neighborly politeness . . . . .

Police responded to a report of shots fired. They say the caller told them a bullet had traveled into the apartment through an adjacent wall from another unit.

They went to the other apartment and talked with the shooter who told them it was accidental and no one in that apartment was injured.

Musical NotesGuns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.

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What’s in a Word? 0

Above the Law’s Joe Patrice reminds us, well, actually, a definition.

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QOTD 0

Kenneth More, in the voice of Father Brown:

Now, there are men who want power, and the idealism of others becomes the means by which they hope to attain it. Such men are dangerous.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Speaking of Declinism . . . . 0

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier reminds us that amount of time on the clock is declining.

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“The Good Old Days” 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Eva M. Krockow takes a look at what she calls “declinism,” which I would loosely describe as the notion that the world is going to hell in a handbasket coupled with a yearning for the mythical good old days. She suggests that this feeling is can be fed by news reporting, which quite naturally focuses on stuff that goes wrong, and by politicians seeking to appeal to persons’ fears and unease. She closes her piece with some suggestions as to how to avoid declining into declinism.

A couple of snippets (emphasis added):

The bias reflects an overly negative view of the current situation, and it usually goes hand in hand with tendencies to romanticise the past. Individuals with declinist views typically bask in nostalgic recollections of what used to be, while overlooking or discounting less-than-rosy memories from that time.

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One example of political declinism includes the Brexit campaign slogan “Take Back Control,” which implied the need to regain sovereignty to prevent further decline. Another example is Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” which suggested that things were better in the past.

Methinks this a timely read.

Afterthought:

You might ask some Brits how Brexit is working out is working out for them. (Hint: It isn’t.)

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The Privatization Scam 0

And it is a scam.

The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts runs the numbers and shows that you can voucher on that.

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A Pet Theory 0

Thom wonders whether we are witnessing a case of psychological projection.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

And, again, politeness becomes childs’ play.

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Stray Question 2

When did “who has the ugliest grill/front end?” become the standard against which automobile designers measure themselves?

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QOTD 0

Sidney Greenstreet, in the voice of Nero Wolfe:

Why must the world be in such a rush today?

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Bait and Snitch 0

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Joseph A. Shrand considers why so many would dehumanize those from other countries and cultures, aka “aliens.” Here’s a tiny bit from his essay; follow the link for the complete article.

For one human to hurt another we first have to dehumanize them. You are not going to hurt someone you care about until they dip below the threshold of being human.

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A Choice, Not an Echo 0

Caption:  Cognitive Assessment Test.  Image:  Ballot showing Harris and Trump for President.

Click to view the original image.

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This New Gilded Age 0

Robert Reich explains why Donald Trump’s economic (what some are able to refer to without laughing at) policies will harm the polity.

Or you can read the transcript.

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