September, 2021 archive
A Notion of Immigrants 0
Immigrants welcomed to the land of opportunity.
H/T to my brother in Virginia’s Northern Neck for linking me to this story.
Facebook Frolics, Defending the Indefensible Dept. 0
The Zuckerborg is implementing a new Ministry of Truth.
Once again, we are reminded that “social” media isn’t.
Vaccine Nation, Lies Come Back To Haunt Dept. 0
As I have several times mentioned, my old history professor, Dr. Shade, would often say, “History is irony.”
Aside:
I wonder whether he ever expected one of his students to be quoting him half a century later?
The Climates They Are a-Changing . . . 0
. . . and, after looking at America’s response to the COVID pandemic, AL.com’s John Archibald is less than optimistic. An excerpt from his article:
Profits always trump prophets, and we’d rather kill each other than do what’s required to save us all.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite at the while shopping for bargains at the big box store.
The child’s relative was accessing a gun when it discharged, striking the boy in his left foot.
Afterthought:
I do hereby nominate “accessing a gun” for mealy-mouthed euphemism of the month.
Death and Taxes 0
What happens when someone makes a typo that results in the SSA or the IRS deciding that you are dead?
Sally Parsons can tell you. A snippet:
Her saving grace is a 2013 apology letter from the Social Security Administration, which reads: “Our records incorrectly showed you as deceased. However, we have since found that you are alive.”
In the last year, she tried to refinance her home but underwriters told her she was dead. She can’t get rebates for the solar panels she installed on her house. She didn’t receive any stimulus checks, and she paid her taxes but didn’t receive any tax refund.
The Elephant in the Room 0
Der Spiegel interviews evolutionary biologist Victoria Herridge on biotech company Colossal’s intention to genetically engineer woolly mammoths, which have been extinct for millennia. She is, shall we say, at best lukewarm to the endeavor. Here’s a snippet:
Herridge: Of course! When you have tools like that in your hand, you think less about your own behavior and its consequences. It worries me that we humans prefer to be interested in such shiny, high-tech projects as with the mammoth rather than in pragmatic species conservation projects that, if managed well, can actually make a difference.
Follow the link for the rest. It is worth your while.
The Vaccine Nation Goes to School 0
Writing as a guest columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, University of Georgia professor Peter Lindsay is less than sanguine about the Georgia University Board of Regents policies in these viral times. He points out that, in the name of “freedom,” the Board has acted in questionable ways, eschewing mask mandates and vaccination requirements; indeed, they have prohibited teachers from so much as inquiring about students’ vaccination status.
A snippet; follow the link for the rest:
Maskless Marauders 0
Note the part where the owner of the restaurant admits that “it’s political.”
And he’s not the only one . . . .
We are a society that no longer understands the concept of the “common good.”
