From Pine View Farm

December, 2014 archive

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Sojourn politely.

A man apparently accidentally shot himself in the leg at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in the 9900 block of Midlothian Turnpike, according to Chesterfield County police.

The man was reportedly putting his gun away for the night when he accidently fired the gun, and the bullet struck him in the leg, police said.

At least the reporter recognized that the gun didn’t go off on its ownsome.

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The Entitlement Society 0

Get out of JailThe Regent plays his white male Republican Get Out of Jail Free card.

After all, accountability is for those people, if you know what I mean.

Pah!

Aside:

One of my neighbors said to me the other day, “My old neighborhood was getting dark, if you know what I mean.” I knew.

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All the News that Fits 0

The tape doctors:

Fox lies. It’s how they roll.

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Cultural Wasteland 0

Apparently, “shrug” is the new “talk to the hand.”

Afterthought:

An essential “parenting” (man, I loathe that 80s neologism) skill is not sweating the small stuff.

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QOTD 0

Gunter Grass:

Information networks straddle the world. Nothing remains concealed. But the sheer volume of information dissolves the information. We are unable to take it all in.

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One Thing Is Not Like the Other 0

Let Thom explain.

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Catch-22 0

It’s the best catch there is.

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The Colorbind Society 0

Writing at the Bangor Daily News, Sociology Professor Michael Rocque explains that, despite the denials you hear, of course it’s about race. A nugget.

It is the vehemence with which the “it’s not about race” argument is made that I wish to address here. Simply because overt racial prejudice has declined does not mean that racism itself has also declined in our society. Yet any claim that race matters is met with defensiveness and strong denials. This is understandable (and a good thing, in a sense) because it means that being overtly racist is not acceptable any longer. But we are living in an age in which racism is “ color blind” in that disparities are said to be caused by anything but race. The racism we live with is systemic and institutional. And while this form of racism is not necessarily as overt as someone using racist or disparaging remarks, it is likely more harmful. This means that our structures are built in such a way that makes life easier for certain races and more difficult for others.

Chattel slavery, justified by a mythology of racism, is America’s original sin. As with any sin, denying it does not make it go away.

Do follow the link. Granted, the man needs an editor, but what he says needs hearing.

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Twits on Twitter 0

Hate-full twits.

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A Christmas Poem 0

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Do you holiday shotting politely.

On Sunday afternoon, a 42-year-old man in the parking lot of Academy Sports on U.S. Route 70 accidentally shot himself in the leg while changing the ammunition in his handgun.

Officers at the scene did not release the man’s name, but said his injury was not life threatening.

The day before, a 24-year-old man accidentally shot himself–also in the leg, and also while he was sitting in his vehicle–in the parking lot of Valley Hills Mall, which is adjacent to the Academy Sports parking lot.

The man was attempting to put his 45mm handgun on safety when it went off and hit an artery in his leg, causing life-threatening blood loss.

“On safety.” Right.

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The Entitlement Society 0

Honest to Pete, you can’t make this stuff up

When she grows up, she will likely be a Wall Street Banker.

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QOTD 0

Henrik Ibsen:

The majority is always wrong; the minority is rarely right.

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Some Perspective on Cuba 0

History matters.

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A Two-Track System 0

In the Roanoke Times, the Rev. Kirk A. Ballin, retired Unitarian minister, looks at American history and sees what most Americans deny through silence and a few would defend through arms:

This is because the history of the United States is really a two-track history. One track grows out of the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Freedom, equity and justice for all are fundamental to this historical genesis.

The other track of U.S. history, however, stands in stark and disturbing contrast to the idealism of the one rooted in freedom, equity and justice. This other track of U.S. history is rooted in oppression, exploitation, persecution, enslavement and murder.

It is history marked by the violent, exploitive (sic) and dehumanizing treatment of groups of people who were different from the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant establishment of the early United States.

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Once More Uber the Top Boys! 0

Uber alienates another fan. Thanh Tan, columnist for the Seattle Times, joins the ranks of the fed up.

This company I’ve defended in previous blog posts (and in a CBC interview just last month) is beginning to remind me of the old boyfriend who acts so nice and humble at first. But once he gets what he wants, he reveals himself to be self-serving and immature. Uber dreamy? More like uber jerk.

Even worse, Uber has morphed into the guy who won’t take no for an answer; the man who believes he is entitled to the entire cake.

I wonder, is it possible for an entire company to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

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The Fee Hand of the Market . . . 0

. . . meets All the News that Fits.

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Chartering a Course for Disaster 0

Once the con is in the can, who gets the leftovers?

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Guided to politeness:

Cache County sheriff’s deputies say (hunting guide–ed.) Christopher Richards of the Sportsman’s Paradise Hunting Club was leading a group of hunters when the accident occurred Saturday near the town of Paradise.

As the 24-year-old Richards entered a small grove of trees to flush out some pheasants, a 12-year-old hunter fired a shotgun at a pheasant from the opposite side.

The injuries were not life-threatening.

Whatchawanna bet that, had that 12-year-old “hunter” been a 12-year-old black kid with a toy gun in Walmart, he’d be dead by now.

The distance from “hunter” to “hunted”–that’s white privilege in a nutshell.

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QOTD 0

Jimmy Reid:

The task of the media in a democracy is not to ease the path of those who govern, but to make life difficult for them by constant vigilance as to how they exercise the power they only hold in trust from the people.

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