September, 2017 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Expose children to politeness (emphasis added).
(snip)
Captain Kevin Riley of the Parma Police Department says that it appears the boy gained possession of a gun that was inside the car and appears to have accidentally shot himself with it. Police believe that the shooting was an accident and no foul play is suspected.
“Gained possession of a gun” seems a somewhat convoluted way of saying “some jerk negligently left an unsecured firearm lying about.”
Data Corruption 0
If it goes viral, double-check it.
Twice.
Per The Smoking Gun:
But Kushner’s current voter registration form (seen below) reveals that he is, in fact, 100% male. The document is on file with the New York City Board of Elections.
Follow the link for the image.
Facebook Frolics, Yet More Racist Frolickers Dept. 0
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tony Norman comments on the (now ex-)Fire Chief who posted a racist statement about NFL coach Mike Tomlin and then claimed it was not racist, no sirree, not racist at all. A snippet:
I know what you’re thinking: What’s the race-ish card?
Follow the link for the answer.
Schism 0
Using the contrast between reactions to a kneeling Colin Kaepernick and a kneeling Tim Tebow as a starting point, Michael Frost explores what he suggests is an increasing division with Christianity.
Of course, there has never been a monolithic Christianity, not even during Medieval times. Early on the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches split, largely over political and cultural issues; for a short time, there were even two Popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon which was overtly political.
American Protestantism has long been a hodge-podge with a relatively staid main stream, but with fringes richly populated with con artists, fakers, and cultists. (“Place your hands on your television and prey pray with me.”)
Despite this checkered history, Frost discerns two primary and competing themes becoming dominant, at least in American Protestantism. I’m not sure that I buy his conclusions in toto, but I do think his piece is worth reading, as a growing number of religionists seem again to seek terrestrial political power and influence.
Here’s a bit:
One is reading the Epistles of Paul. The other is reading the Minor Prophets.
One is listening to Eric Metaxas and Franklin Graham. The other is listening to William Barber and John Perkins.
One is rallying at the March for Life. The other is getting arrested at Moral Monday protests.
It’s All about the Benjamins 0
Bob Molinaro, sportswriter extraordinaire, checks a fact:
Facebook Frolics, Mining the Depths Dept. 0
Will Bunch critiques the minecraft:
Follow the link for thoughtful and considered discussion of what happens when forces of deception and disruption prey on ersatz patriotism.
“Let No Good Deed Go Unpunished” 0
The Des Moines Register’s Rehka Basu reports on what she calls “the new self-righteousness.” (Hint: It’s all self and no righteousness.)
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
A polite society is a clean society.
(snip)
Investigators believe the girl’s father was downstairs cleaning a gun when it was negligently discharged and struck the girl in an upstairs bedroom.
Aside:
I doubt seriously that the gun “negligently discharged” itself.
Furrfu.
“Nonsense Debt” 0
Josh Marshall looks at the developing war within the Republican Party between the absurd and the absolutely crazy, witness the recent Alabama primary victory of Judge Roy Moore.
Marshall suggests that Republicans have done it to themselves. (Unfortunately, they are poised to do it to the rest of us, also.)
Here’s a crucial bit; follow the link for the rest (emphasis added).
This is the crux of the issue. Last spring I said the Trump phenomenon was a product of what I termed ‘nonsense debt‘. Republicans had spent years pumping their voters up on increasingly extreme and nonsensical claims and promises. This worked very well for winning elections. But it had also built up a debt that eventually had to be repaid. Concretely, they were making claims and promises that were either factually ridiculous, politically unviable or unacceptable to a broad swath of the voting public. Eventually, you get elected and need to produce. By definition that’s never really possible: both because the claims and promises are nonsensical and unviable but also because a politics based on reclamation, revenge, and impulse is almost impossible to satisfy through normal legislative politics.
Image via Job’s Anger.
