June, 2021 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Pack politeness for you trip..
The boy was struck in the chest, police said. The man rushed the child to a nearby fire station. From there, medics transported the boy to a hospital where he was stable and was expected to survive, according to investigators.
The story goes on to say that no charges will be preferred because this was an “accident.”
“Accident” is the gun nut incantation to make accountability go away.
Issues or Identity? 0
Thom wonders whether the United States can survive as a multi-racial, ethnic, religious democracy.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
And they keep getting fiendlier.
(snip)
“There tends to be greater incidents where you are flying out of a place where local and state leaders have said that the pandemic is a hoax, that masks are not necessary, all of those things,” she (Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA–ed.) said.
“Critical Thinking” 0
At the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Steven Backus explains what critical thinking is, and what it isn’t.
He goes on to identify the three factors which he considers the biggest roadblocks to critical thinking in our society. The piece is worth the three minutes it will take to read it.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite to your progeny.
The boy was taken to the hospital by the Houston Fire Department where his injuries are serious, but he is stable, according to police.
One more time, “accidentally” and “negligently” are not the same thing.
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” has come full circle.
The Republican Party has become the party of racism.
Inflated Fears 0
Professor Richard Wolff joins Thom to talk about the recent inflation numbers.
A little–I emphasize little–inflation is not necessarily a bad thing. I think that a major contributor to the emotional panic we see today at the least little bit of inflation is a legacy of the OPEC fuel embargo of the 1970s. Fuel prices rose starkly (remember gas lines and odd-even rationing?), spurring double-digit inflation rates across the economy.
Part of the legacy of that experience, in my view, is an unreasoning fear of even the smallest hint of inflation, leading to gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands, and stupiding of policy.
The Cowardice of Their Convictions 0
The Des Moines Register’s Reka Basu calls out Republicans’ efforts to ban “critical race theory” and, along with that, honest discussion of American history. A snippet:
It’s too guilt-inducing, they say.
Aside:
Methinks it induces guilt because the guilt is deserved, and they can’t face that.
Or perhaps they feel no guilt and don’t want others to do so.
The Cavalcade of Stupid 0
Daniel Ruth thinks that “the country has gone completely, absolutely full-bore bonkers.”
Methinks he may be onto something.
Vaccine Nation 0
We are a society of stupid.