August, 2016 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Historical politeness is the politest kind.
And, in more news of the polite . . . .
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
There Are None So Blind as Those Who Will Not Look,
Sit with Colin Kaepernick Dept.
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At Psychology Today Blogs, Sam Louie looks at the kerfuffle about Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem at a blanking football game for Pete’s sake. A nugget:
This from WTHR-TV Sportscaster Bob Kravitz in Indianapolis:
“I found it interesting, but completely understandable, that when I posed the Kaepernick question on Twitter, the responses broke along racial lines.
From whites: “If you don’t like America, go somewhere else. Leave. We’ll help you pack.”
Just like the racial divide facing our country, opinions on his behavior also broke along racial lines.As a white folk who has associated mostly with white folks but thank heavens not entirely because that’s how America works, I can state quite confidently that white folks don’t get it.
I try to get it, but I know I don’t not really but I promise to keep trying.
But, Christallmighty, as long as cops who kill black persons for being have an automatic “Get Out of Jail Free” card, there is no “liberty and justice for all” and the “American Dream” remains a farce and a con.
I’ll stop now, for all I have left is profanity.
Facebook Frolics, You Will Be Assimilated Dept. 0
At The Guardian, John Naughton contrasts two visions of the internet: that of Tim Burners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web (that is, hypertext mark-up language or HTML) and that of Mark Zuckerberg, who wishes to assimilate you, and you, and you into his Zuckerborg. Here’s a bit.
Both Sides Not 0
Dick Polman calls out corporate media’s false equivalences. The gist:
Facts Are What People Think 0
Writing at my local rag, Joshua Zingler suggests that Donald Trump is a symptom of stupid. A nugget:
Beliefs are not all unique and equal snowflakes; some of them are just totally unfounded.
Forty-three percent of Republicans and 60 percent of Trump supporters believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. Sixty-one percent of Trump supporters think Obama was not born in the United States. Neither is true.
These types of views are not endemic to Obama. Only 35 percent of Trump supporters are worried about the consequences of global warming. A full 25 percent of Republicans (and 15 percent of Democrats) indicated that they were more likely to not vaccinate their children than to vaccinate them.
The consequences for governance from such mistakes are profound. Unfounded opinions get represented like all the others.
A. Workers in China 0
Q. Who polishes the Apple?
El Reg reports
(snip)
“Currently, Apple’s profits are declining, and the effects of this decline have been passed on to suppliers. To mitigate the impact, Pegatron has taken some covert measures to exploit workers.”
Follow the link for the complete story.
Only In It for the Money 0
Wendell Potter doesn’t try to hide his disgust at Aetna’s antics.
If that means making it more difficult for low- and middle-income Americans to get the medical care they need, so be it. “Too bad, so sad,” to use a phrase one of my former colleagues used to say when people complained about the way health insurers routinely screw their customers.
(snip)
In fact, it is Aetna’s government business (Medicare and Medicaid–ed.) that is the only segment that is growing. Aetna and most of the other for-profit insurers have been losing private-paying customers on a regular basis for some time. But not to worry. As long as Uncle Sam has the Medicare and Medicaid faucets wide open and flowing straight into the insurers’ bank accounts, they couldn’t care less.
Read the rest.
You Too Can Be on Television! 0
At Science 2.0, Edzard Ernst explains how to become a charlatan.
No Place To Hide 0
If you use Windows, you should read what the Electronic Freedom Foundation has to say about Windows 10 and privacy (more accurately, perhaps, Windows 10 or privacy). Here’s a tidbit:
(snip)
Microsoft has tried to explain this lack of choice by saying that Windows Update won’t function properly on copies of the operating system with telemetry reporting turned to its lowest level. In other words, Microsoft is claiming that giving ordinary users more privacy by letting them turn telemetry reporting down to its lowest level would risk their security since they would no longer get security updates1. (Notably, this is not something many articles about Windows 10 have touched on.)
But this is a false choice that is entirely of Microsoft’s own creation.
Follow the link for the complete article. Click the EFF link on the sidebar to learn more about the EFF.
“Paranoia Strikes Deep” 0
Shorter Lewis Beale (something I’ve said myself on several occasions): Richard Hofstadter was right.
