From Pine View Farm

April, 2022 archive

The Disinformation Superhighway of Hate 0

One more time, “social” media isn’t.

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The Privilege Flew 0

Florida Republicans are turning on Disney since the entertainment company had the unmitigated gall to criticize their hate-full “Don’t Say Gay” law.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell follows the money. A nugget:

Yet now that Disney has vowed to stop donating, DeSantis and GOP lawmakers are not only threatening to repeal the special theme-park exemption they provided last year, they’re saying Disney should no longer be entitled to special statutes that essentially allow the company to act like a private municipality. . . .

But none of these state lawmakers gave a flying fairy about all the special treatment and incentive deals Disney received until Disney stood up for LGBTQ families and said it was financially cutting off the politicians.

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Space Farce 0

Warning: Short commercial at the end.

There’s nothing like an uninformed citizenry to perpetuate a society of stupid.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Treat your sister with politeness.

And thus another life is Second Amended

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Idiot Test 0

Methinks he failed the test . . . .

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

At the Bangor Daily News, Bowdoin professor Aliosha Barranco Lopez explores the dangers of echo chambers, with a focus on QAnon. A snippet (emphasis added):

, , , echo chambers are not simply communities with strict relations of trust and distrust. They are, also, places where our identities are transformed in ways that make it virtually impossible for us to change our minds. People in online echo chambers acquire a number of new beliefs about what type of persons they and others in their group are. A QAnon follower, for example, thinks about herself as part of the group of people who get things right, and those who are not part of that group are people who get things wrong.

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QOTD 0

Hunter S. Thompson:

I learned a long time ago that reality was much weirder than anyone’s imagination.

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“The Slow-Moving Coup” 0

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

In Florida, history isn’t.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

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“Vote Early and Often” 0

It’s a Republican thing.

Afterthought:

No wonder they are so willing to believe Trump’s Big Lie. They are willing to cheat, so it’s easy for them to believe that others cheat too.

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Echoes of the Pullman Strike 0

Sam and his crew discuss the new robber barons and their exploitation of workers.

Aside:

Karl Marx was a brilliant economist, but a lousy prophet.

He was wrong about the dictatorship of the proletariat and about the ensuing paradise of “from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs,”* but he was damned right on the mark about employers exploitating the masses.

The best defense against worker exploitation is not Marxism. It is unions negotiating with employers for fair treatment of employees.

I know. I worked in a union shop.

Oh, for more about the Pullman Strike.
______________

*I suspect that Marx saw no way out of a capitalist dystopia, so he just made something up out of desperation and despair. But that’s just me.

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Freedom of Screech 0

Yale Law Professor:

Freedom of speech for me, but not for thee.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Yet another responsible gun owner . . . .

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Crossing the Line 0

LZ Granderson opines that, thanks to Madison Cawthorne, we now know how far from the truth is too far from the truth in Republican World.

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QOTD 0

P. D. James:

If from infancy you treat children as gods they are liable in adulthood to act as devils.

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Leaks (Updated) 0

No, not news leaks. Water leaks.

If you do not have a leak detector, get one.

I have an inexpensive one, powered by a nine-volt battery (indeed, I just put in a new battery yesterday, as I do every spring and fall), that sounds an alarm when it detects water. It sits in the drain pan under my hot water heater and HVAC system, which in this place is in the attic. (Don’t get me started on how stupid it is to put this equipment in the attic for Pete’s sake. The only reason I can think of for doing that is so the developer could advertise [mumble] more square feet of living space. But it was a done deal when I moved here.)

Several years ago, that little leak detector sounded an alert, which led me to learn that my water heater tank was leaking and the heater needed replaced (I replaced it with a tankless water heater that works very nicely thank you very much). Tonight it sounded again, and I discovered moisture that means I will be calling the plumber to check things out tomorrow.

It was $15.00 well spent for me and would be for you too.

Addendum:

The plumber could find no leaks. He diagnosed the issue as condensation because of increased humidity.

I was happy to pay for the service call. It was a small price to pay for peace of mind.

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And Now for a Musical Interlude 0

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Best at Being Worst: the Final Bracket in the Tournament of Trumpians 0

Drat!

Neither of my favorites made it to the final.

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The Common Denominator 0

The editorial board of the Sacramento Bee solves the equation.

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Vulture Capitalists 0

A Quibble:

We are not in a period of “hyper-inflation” in any classic sense of the term.

That’s a misdirection play, and I contemn Farron for perpetuating it.

We are in a period of legitimate price increases due to supply disruptions caused by a world-wide pandemic (remember the pandemic?) accentuated by a war of aggression started by a would-be Czar and exacerbated by the accompanying uncertainty.

Byt, yes, companies are using this to camouflage price-gouging. Farron’s comments about predatory corporations looking to maximize revenues by any means possible without regard to the common good are quite on the mark.

The damage done to the commonweal by predatory practices justified by the glorification of stockholder returns as promoted by the “Chicago school of selfishness economists” is incalculable and unending.

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