January, 2018 archive
Dialectic 0
Jay Bookman identifies the tragic and dangerous internal contraction of Trumpery. A snippet:
A Trumpled Christmas 0
Thom runs down some of the actions of the Trump administration while you were celebrating the holidays.
Base Desires 0
Dick Polman suggests that the news media’s fascination with Donald Trump’s base is old news. A snippet:
You know what? Enough already with these people. They’re not newsworthy anymore.
They’re the impenetrable hard core. They’re not going to change, no matter how much damage Trump does. Last week, after I listed a mere 40 of Trump’s most blatant bald-faced lies, I was emailed by a Trump fan who acknowledged none of them. Doris, who lives in central Pennsylvania, instead told me this (I’ve preserved her spellings): “Your column degraded our president who wants only to make America a great country for all that live here. I hope in the future you right a piece about all his accomplishments as he swims upstream in the ocean of democrates that seeks only to bring him down. He wants to make America GREAT and strong to be the backbone of democracy around the globe to promote peace, as I believe he will accomplish better than any president we ever had.”
Wait a sec … Trump, the devotee of dictators, is “the backbone of democracy around the globe”? Nothing penetrates the fan base.
Here’s a New Year’s resolution for the mainstream press: Dial it down with the Trumpkins. They are just 35 percent of Americans.
I suspect that part of the media’s fascination with Trump’s base is an inability or unwillingness to understand what activates them (I’m betting on “unwillingness” here).
What activates the Trump base is racism. There are, natch, other stones in the arch of Trumpery, but racism is the keystone.
The corporate media, which wants the Trump base to read its columns and watch its television networks, doesn’t say that out loud because it might offend 35% of its viewers, readers, and masters.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Answering the call of politeness:
“I shot my friend,” the 15-year-old boy told the 911 dispatcher.
“Was this accidental?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” the teen replied.
“What’s going on there?” the dispatcher asked.
“My friend brought a gun over and I picked it up. I didn’t know there was anything in it and I just shot it,” the boy said.
“Where are your parents?” the dispatcher asked.
“Work,” the teen replied.
War and Mongers of War 0
Will Bunch asks, “In 2018, who will have the courage to push the radical idea of world peace?” Follow the link for his answer.
The Lies People Tell Themselves 0
Another Southern myth, busted.
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.
When: Monthly TWUUG meeting at 7:30 p. m. on the first Thursday of the month (January 4, 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.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Commit random acts of politeness.
The office says his reckless handling of a firearm resulted in the accidental shooting Oct. 11 in the plumber’s shop of Stonehill College’s Clock Farm, across the street from the main campus.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Breakfast with a side of bigot:
A Texas waitress said some customers left a racist symbol behind when they left their table.
Tenasha Ballard said she had been serving four high school students recently at an IHOP in Sherman, and they asked for a takeaway coffee cup, reported KXII-TV.
When she returned with the cup, Ballard found the teens had cut some leftover pancakes into the letters “KKK” and fled.
More Trumpling at the link.
