From Pine View Farm

March, 2022 archive

The Cost of War 0

Citing an article from The Atlantic, Michael in Norfolk suggests that it may be a lot higher than Vladimir Putin anticipated.

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In One Ear . . . . 0

Boy, it sure sounded like the D. J. on my local classical music station just said, “That was soulless William Bennett on the flute.”

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Fatal Attraction 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Ronald Riggio notes an oft-overlooked bit of obvious: Someone cannot be a leader without followers. He goes on to explore several reasons why persons choose to follow bad leaders–bad, that is, in the sense that they do bad things.

Here’s one of the reasons he suggests, one that I think is of particular import in the current state of our polity, where, if over half the registered voters show up at the polls, it’s considered an “overwhelming turn-out” and where puny turn-outs are common in state and local elections.

Many Followers Are Apathetic. Many of us put our leaders on a pedestal. We let them take the reins of power, and we look away, assuming that they will do the right thing. It is the obligation of good followers to hold leaders accountable for their actions and to call them out on their misbehavior. But too often we give leaders “a pass” instead, or we make exceptions for them. This is why many leaders get away with wicked or immoral behavior that followers and others could never get away with (“It’s OK because they are the leader.”).

Follow the link for the rest.

(Spellink errors fixed.)

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The Climates They Are a-Changing 0

The dinosaurs did not know that the meteor was headed their way.

We see the meteor and choose to do (almost) nothing.

Title:  Safety Campaign.  Frame One:  Man in car captioned

Click to view the original image.

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The Disinformation Superhighway Goes to War, Reprise 0

Rebecca Watson discusses the role of the disinformation superhighway in spreading misinformation in a time of crisis and suggests precautions persons can take to avoid “sharing” mis- and disinformation.

Read the transcript.

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Tin Foil Hats 0

Yes, anti-vaxxers are wearing them now. For real. In New Zealand.

Psychologist Robert Bartholomew says, “Blame the Nocebo Effect.”

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The Crusader 0

Republican Elephant dressed as Winston Churchill speaks from television:  We shall fight them on the playing fields, in the schools, in the homes, and in the restrooms, and we shall never surrender . . . .  Woman viewer says to man,

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QOTD 0

Michael Harrington:

If there is technological advance without social advance, there is, almost automatically, an increase in human misery.

Q, E, D,

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Geeking Out 0

A VirtualBox virtual machine of the recently released Slackware v. 15 with KDE running on Mageia v. 8 with the Fluxbox window manager. Firefox is shaded, that is, “rolled up” into the title bar, in Slackware (you can’t do that with Windows). The Mageia wallpaper is from my collection; the Slackware wallpaper was included in the install.

Screenshot

Click for a larger image.

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Eagle 0

A picture from my brother in Virginia’s Northern Neck.

Eagle perched on branch

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Paper Trail 0

Frame One:  Sound of toilets flushing repeatedly.  Frames Two-Four:  Danae says,

Click to view the original image.

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Bankrolling Bigotry 0

The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell follows the money.

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Russian Impulses 0

I might not have phrased it quite the same way, but methinks Disaffected may be onto somthing.

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Our Cavalcade of Crazy 0

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Dis Coarse Discourse 0

Scene: the

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Hypothetically Speaking 0

At Above the Law, Mark Hermann suggests a change of perspective. Here’s one of this examples; follow the link for some others.

Suppose the Secretary of State during the attack in Benghazi, Libya, had been a Republican? How would Republicans have responded?

If your answer is, “Exactly as they did for Hillary Clinton; not a thing would have changed,” then politicians are more likely to be acting on principle, rather than partisanship.

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QOTD 0

Robert Gilpin:

Every dominant state, and particularly an empire, promotes a religion or ideology that justifies its domination over other states in the system.

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