2020 archive
Florida Man Goes Viril Venal
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Real. Big. Man.
(snip)
During the parking lot confrontation, the suspect accused the victim of holding up the grocery line and threatened, “One word and I’ll kill you” before walking away, the station reported.
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
A Federal judge in Pennsylvania has stayed the Trump campaign’s federal court lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s loosening of voting procedures in these viral times. Farron explores the implications of the ruling.
The Stock Market Is Not the Economy 0
The Bonddad Blog has an informative article explaining why the stock market can do well while the overall economy is hurting.
The short version is that the stocks of certain large tech companies have boomed because of their usefulness in a work-and-study-from-home-during-the-pandemic environment. In contrast, the portions of the economy that affect and are peopled by everyday persons (that is, not what is sometimes referred to as the “investor class”) are suffering, along with the persons who live in and depend on them.
The long version is at the link.
Afterthought:
I need a new tube for one of my bicycle tires, so, late last week, I headed out to my local bike shop, where I’ve been trading since I moved to these parts, only to find that it was gone. The two stores on either side of it in the little shopping center were also closed.
Persons who can afford boats to parade in are not worrying about catching up with last month’s rent because the restaurant or store they used to work in has closed.
Dis Coarse Discourse, Cancel Cancel Dept. 0
I have pointed out before that freedom of speech does mean either a right to a platform and audience or freedom from consequences.
Lately, when right-wing figures face consequences for saying or doing vile or racist or nasty or simply false things, Republicans have taken to charging that said figures are somehow being “cancelled” (though they always seem to land at some secure sinecure somewhere else). At The Roanoke Times, Chris Gavaler argues that the charge of “cancel culture” is a cynical tactic, not a sincere appeal to convictions. Here’s a nugget:
President Trump has called for multiple product boycotts (Nordstrom, Glenfiddich, HBO, Macy’s, Apple, AT&T) without any “cancel culture” complaints, but Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s call to boycott Goya products was attacked as “cancel culture.”
Fox News forced out Tucker Carlson’s head writer Blake Neff after discovering racist and misogynistic statements he recently made under an online pseudonym, and no “cancel culture” accusations followed. But when New York Times editor Bari Weiss resigned the same week, “cancel culture” accusations were literally viral. (The list of people the president has demanded to be fired is even longer.)
The complete piece is worth your while.
Aside:
I think there is a very simple reason that the phrase, “cancel culture,” caught on: alliteration.
Spoiler Alert 0
Have a preview of the upcoming week in political theatre.
As it’s a spoiler, I’ve tucked it below the fold.
A Simple Choice 0
Kyle Whitmire looks at the two major presidential candidates and boils the contrast down to its essence:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
The (Self-)Anointed One 0
It’s not uncommon to hear the Trumpettes refered to as a cult. Indeed, the devotion of some his followers despite the facts and reality has often been referred to as cult-like.
At Psychology Today Blogs, John Edward Terrell makes an interesting argument that Donald Trump may indeed be behaving as a cult leader, specifically, a “cargo cult” leader.
Methinks his piece is worth a peek.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
If the two-year old had been packing, perhaps he could have defended himself from the three-year old.
The Dearth of Expertise 0
Writing AL.com, Frances Coleman is taken aback by the proliferation of self-appointed experts, which she thinks can be attributed in large part to “social” media. Follow the link for some examples of said expertise (under the circumstances, though, I shall proffer “expertism” as a more appropriate term).
Aside:
Many of these self-appointed “experts,” of course, meet the classic definition of the term, in which
- “x” is the mathematical symbol for an unknown quantity,
- “spurt” is a drip under pressure, so, therefore,
- “expert” is an unknown drip under pressure.
(Grammatical error corrected.)
“The Zombies Are Coming” 0
Sam and his crew marvel at the latest Republican nutbag QAnon-believing candidate.
As one who trained as an historian, I must say–well, I don’t know what to say.
