From Pine View Farm

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

More friendly politeness.

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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QOTD 0

Robert Guillaume, in the voice of Benson DuBois:

Some people spend their lives complaining about what they haven’t got or getting more than they need. They never seem to enjoy what they have.

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“The White House Blues” 0

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All the News That Fits 0

Sam Goldstein, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, looks at how fiction can masquerade as fact. He notes that

Take crime, for example. Television dramas and true-crime documentaries constantly bombard us with images of serial killers, elaborate heists, and endless shootouts. As a result, many people believe that crime is spiraling out of control. However, violent crime rates have declined significantly in many countries, including the U.S., over the past few decades (Gramlich, 2020). The disconnect between reality and perception can be traced back to how stories are told—and the power of repeated exposure. When a dramatic narrative is repeated often enough, it becomes a “truth” in viewers’ minds.

He goes on to discuss how this effect also manifests itself in “social” media and “news” coverage.

In this age of mis- and disinformation, his article is well worth a read.

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The Contestant 0

In the course of a longer article in which he expresses–er–some concerns over Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, Field describes how he sees Donald Trump’s approach to governance:

He thinks this is all theater or some kind of game show.

Methinks he is onto something.

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Quacks In Command 0

Thom discusses the damage that the Trump maladministration is doing to public health and to the public’s health.

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

Dis coarse discourse is clearly going to pot.

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

Over at C&L, John Amato hears a rhyme from two decades ago.

_________________

*Mark Twain.

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“An Armed Society Is Polite Society” 0

Another “responsible gun owner.”

Another unsecured portable phallus.

Another child in another hospital.

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QOTD 0

Sinclair Lewis:

Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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The Chorus 0

Putin says,

Click to view the original image.

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Facebook Frolics 0

At the EFF, Lena Cohen and Rory Mir explore the Zuckerborg’s latest efforts to spy on you and offer some suggestions for combating it. A snippet:

Meta’s tracking pixel was secretly communicating with Meta’s apps on Android devices. This violates a fundamental security feature (“sandboxing”) of mobile operating systems that prevents apps from communicating with each other. Meta got around this restriction by exploiting localhost, a feature meant for developer testing. This allowed Meta to create a hidden channel between mobile browser apps and its own apps.

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Mask Bull 0

Red-hatted Trump supporter demanding that persons take off their masks, unless they are ICE agents.

Via Job’s Anger.

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“The Same Thing Harder . . . .” 0

Farron is not sanguine.

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Running the Government like a Business 0

Apparently, Donald Trump thinks that he has the power to sell U. S. residency and maybe even citizenship to the highest bidder.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Settle disagreements over parking spaces with politeness.

Authorities in Calera (Alabama–ed.) are investigating after police say a woman fired shots at a car in the parking lot of a retail store, allegedly over a parking space. . . .

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QOTD 0

Isabel Allende:

Fear is inevitable, I have to accept that, but I cannot allow it to paralyze me.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

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The Hostile Takeover 0

Gene Collier looks at the Trump maladministration’s attempt to stage a military invasion of Los Angeles and is not sanguine. A snippet:

That quaint ’90s notion of appropriate governmental response seems almost idyllic against the post-modern methods, in which Trump contorts reality to align with his own political psychosis and responds only in the way that plays to his political advantage, regardless of the outcome.

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