From Pine View Farm

January, 2018 archive

Who Put the Voodoo in Voodoo Economics: The “Two Santa Clauses” Theory 0

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Lazy Circles in the Sky 0

Will Bunch watched the State of Union Address so I didn’t have to (actually, I never those things when I can watch reruns of the Jack Benny show). He points out that Donald Trump promised all those things he’s promised before, just like the guy on the phone who promised me he was calling from Microsoft:

This, he called this “a New American Moment” — but it sounded like an old American moment. In his speech to Congress in 2017, after all, Trump also vowed to work for an immigration deal, saying “I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.” Two paragraphs later in that 2017 speech, he declared solemnly that “I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the United States.”

To quote the late great John Lennon: We’d all love to see the plan.

Follow the link for the rest.

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The Rule of Lawless 0

Two Republican elephants wielding sledge hammers at the base of a statue labeled

Click for the original image.

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The Following 0

Flock of sheep, all wearing MAGA hats, saying,

Via Job’s Anger.

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Make TWUUG Your LUG 0

Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do. Learn how to use GNU/Linux and its plethora of free and open source software to get stuff done with computers.

It’s not hard; it’s just different.

Tidewater Unix Users Group

When: Monthly TWUUG meeting at 7:30 p. m. on the first Thursday of the month (February 1, 2018). Pre-meeting dinner at Chicago Uno, JANAF shopping center, 6:00 p. m. (map)

Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.

Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room (map). (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Share your politeness with your friends.

Deputies said a 22-year-old man was cleaning his 9 mm handgun and showing his 20-year-old girlfriend how to safely handle a weapon when the gun fired. He suffered a graze injury to his leg and she was struck in the thigh, calf and foot and treated at Bronson Battle Creek.

er, yeah.

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Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0

You know that the Trumpling’s got to be bad if the Trumpler got banned from Uber.

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QOTD 0

Tom Hopkins:

I never take advice from anyone more messed up than I am.

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State of the Union, Pictoral Representation 0

The Garden of Earthly Delights, inner right wing, by Hieronymus Bosch

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Baskets for Babies 0

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Both Sides Not 0

Eugene Robinson excoriates the hypocrisy of evangelical “Christian” “leaders” as regards Donald Trump. A snippet:

I can’t pretend to be shocked, shocked that conservative political activists who cloak themselves in gaudy religiosity turn out to be rank hypocrites. That’s nothing new. I do feel sorry, though, for the millions of Christians who look to figures such as Perkins and Graham for moral leadership. They must be terribly confused.

After all, Perkins’ predecessor at the Family Research Council, Gary Bauer, said this when Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky was revealed in 1998: “Character counts — in a people, in the institutions of our society, and in our national leadership.”

Apparently, it only counts when a Democrat is in the White House, not a Republican. I’m still looking for the Bible verse that spells out this distinction, but it must be in there somewhere.

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Marriage, GOP Style 0

Man standing behind a podium labeled,

Via Job’s Anger.

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The Rule of Lawless 0

Josh Marshall reports on This Week in Lawless.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Politeness is a family affair.

During the investigation it was determined that a family member had accidentally fired the handgun, officials say. They did not disclose whether that individual was male or female, or whether the person was an adult or child.

This is the second accidental shooting involving a child in Jackson County over the past several weeks. In the other incident, a youngster sat on a weapon and received a minor injury to the buttocks but is recovering fully.

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QOTD 0

George Bernard-Shaw:

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

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And Now a Musical Interlude 0

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The Rule of Lawless 0

Elie Mystal comments of the Trumpling of the FBI. A snippet:

Donald Trump has broken America. The only question is whether people will be able to put it back together after he’s gone.

I think not. I think the “rule of law” stage of America is over, and we are entering a stage of “rule of man.”

Follow the link to learn why he says that.

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Turtles All the Way Down 0

Thom gets a caller who seems to arguing in favor of the flat earth theory.

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The Creative Process 0

Rat is writing:  Wassup.  I'm bored.  I'm thinking about punching people.  Not once.  But twice.  (Makes punching gesture)  Biff!  Bang!  Right in the bean.  Because I can.  Okay little people, that's all I got.  Aide says to Rat, who is sitting at a desk with the Presidential shield,


Click for a larger image.

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Core Values 0

Title: Fundamentalist Cultures.  Image:  Iranian praying to Allah, citizen of Myanmar bowing before statue of Buddha, Saudi Arabian praying to Allah, Uncle Sam worshiping a golden statue of a gun.

Via Job’s Anger.

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