From Pine View Farm

December, 2020 archive

Twits on Twitter 0

Twits from beyond the fringe.

Share

If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0

Republican speaks before a crowd as nurse is injecting him with a hypodermic, says,

Click for the original image.

Here’s a real life example.

Share

The True Believers 0

At The Roanoke Times, Andy Parker argues–and methinks he has a point–that Trumpism has become a cult. A snippet:

Several years ago, I read with astonishment about the cult mentality permeating Scientology in the book, “Going Clear.” . . . I never thought I’d see that kind of madness catch on in anything other than a fringe in society.

Yet here we are with a cult of millions that make Scientologists look like mainstream Methodists.

Follow the link for the rest.

Share

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

A Trumpled television reporter.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Tet another hunter can’t tell a human being from (in this case) small game.

Here’s the headline; follow the link for the story.

Hunter who thought he was firing at animal shot and killed teen at Lake Nockamixon, DA says

Share

Courting Disasters 0

Share

Drop. Bucket. 0

Frame One, captioned

Click for the original image.

Aside:

I wish people would get their terms correct. These are not “stimulus” checks. They are relief checks.

Share

QOTD 0

Bill Vaughan:

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

Share

Geeking Out 0

Listening to Murder at Bridge in VLC on Ubuntu MATE using the MATE desktop.

Screenshot

Share

The Brother Hunt 0

Two of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels concerned finding family: The Father Hunt and The Mother Hunt. In both of them, Nero Wolfe solved the mystery.

Now, Donald Trump is off on a brother hunt, but Nero Wolfe he’s not.

Share

All Hat, No Cattle 0

Via C&L.

Share

Mummers of Discontent 0

In the three decades I lived in the Philadelphia area, I never–not once–had any desire to go to the Mummers Parade. The idea of standing on Broad Street in freezing temperatures did not appeal to me as the way to usher in the New Year. That some of the Mummers had a history of less than proper and considerate behavior was not a factor in my thinking; the thermometer was.

In recent years, some of the Mummers have been criticized for racist and bigoted undercurrents (in some cases, overcurrents) in their costumes and conduct. Note that I said “some of,” as the parade is composed of many different groups; pretty much the only thing they have in common is the parade.

At the Inky, Daniel Gold, one of the marchers, writes of wanting to see this aspect of Mummery improve and considers why such improvement is a struggle. His comments are perceptive and can be extended to the larger society. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):

However, what really holds the Mummers back from ridding the tradition of racism and bigotry is a misunderstanding of how these things work.

To be blunt, most Mummers don’t understand the problem. And not enough are interested in figuring it out. They don’t feel racist, so they can’t understand why the public would see them that way. They view individual acts of racism as individual problems, and assume if they’re not the one doing it or getting caught, they’re not the problem.

But that’s not how it works. Racism is complex. Though it often occurs at the individual level, it is a cultural problem. In western society, it has artificially pit Black against white and historically created a hierarchy placing white at the top. When people speak of systemic racism, this is what they mean. In America, we all live with this and play a part. We either work to combat it or escalate it.

Share

Know Them by the Company They Keep 0

A federal judge considers the criteria for clemency from the current federal executive.

“It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals,” senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa told The Associated Press in a brief phone interview Monday.

Details at the link

Share

Certifiably Certifiable 0

Read the news report that Farron refers to.

Share

Wide World of Sports, 2020 Version 0

Frame One:  Trump golfing.  Frame Two:  Pence skiing.  Frame Three:  You downing (in a sea of COVID).

Click for the original image.

Share

Parler Tricks 0

One more time, the internet is a public place.

Aside:

From what I’ve heard–I’m sure not going to find out for myself–Parler is such a sloppy operation that his account very well could have been impersonated, if not actually hacked.

Share

QOTD 0

Kshama Sawanti:

If making sure that workers get out of poverty would severely impact the economy, then maybe we don’t need this economy.

Share

Oops 0

I tried to install a plugin to make this site more mobile friendly and it broke my WordPress.

I had my hosting account open at the time, so I went to phpMyAdmin, opened the file manager, navigated to the WordPress plugin directory, deleted the plugin’s directory, and everything worked again.

(Wiping brow) I got off easy that time. And I learned something.

Last time something went wrong, I was offline for a month.

Share

Bitter Enders 0

One is mildly taken aback that Trump supporters would look to Stalin for inspiration.

But only mildly, as their bent to plumb the depths has been amply demonstrated aforetimes.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Party politely.

Washoe County deputies responded to call around 1 a.m. Sunday about a teen who was shot in the thigh at a party about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Reno. The girl was not identified.

The Washoe County sheriff’s office said it is believed somebody at the party fired a weapon into the dark not knowing she was there. The teen is expected to recover from her injuries.

Musical NotesGuns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.

Share