October, 2022 archive
A Tune for the Times 0
Mangy comments at the Youtube page:
For a number of years, I held onto the optimistic belief that, little by little, America was getting smarter, better, more compassionate and more enlightened. Trump came along and suddenly, out of the woodwork (and from under rocks) came the most hideous, horrible, uninformed, brain-dead, unenlightened, angry, entitled, whiny weasels America had to offer. (Did I miss anyone? My apologies.)
Durham’s Bull 0
Margaret Carlson dissects John Durham’s spectacular failure to discredit the FBI’s investigation into Donald Trump’s Russian impulses.
Her article defies excerpt or summary. Just go read it.
The Pusher Men 0
Aside:
I was once married to a nurse who, in part of her career, was an OR nurse. (She was a very good nurse.)
She was always delighted when drug reps came to the hospital, because they treated the staff to a nice lunch.
But the harsh truth is that, for The Pusher Men, it’s all about the Benjamins.
The Privatization Scam 0
In a letter to the editor of the Newark Star-Ledger, a doctor explains how “Medicare Acvantage” plans work to the advantage of insurance companies, but not to that of anyone else.
Aside:
Being of a certain age, we have been tormented by a torrent of spam phone calls during this “Medicare Open Enrollment” period. And all the callers seem to read from the same script.
I blush to say that I an no longer able to respond to them with courtesy.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
The AP takes a look at how mis- and disinformation is flooding “social” media and what various platforms are doing to combat it.
My reading is that, of all the platforms mentioned, Facebook’s efforts to ferret out falsehoods are by far the most feeble. Follow the link and decide whether you agree.
Of course, the article does not address “social” media platforms created to foment falsehoods, such as Parler and Truth (sic) Social.
A Tune for the Times 0
Mangy comments at the Youtube page:
After hearing about Tucker Carlson’s latest shameless disinformation efforts, via tweet, erroneously warning that the CDC was looking to make COVID vaccines mandatory for elementary kids, (they are NOT) Mangy Fetlocks started thinking that what we REALLY need is a vaccine to ward off the braincell-destroying effects of watching Fox commentators, or a vaccine to inoculate Tucker, Sean, Maria, Laura, Jeanine, Steve, Brian and other Fox talking heads to stop them from spreading the contagion of stupidity and disinformation they shamelessly sneeze out at Fox viewers day after day.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Michael in Norfolk argues that Republicans have ripped off their hoods masks and shown their true colors. A snippet:
Aside:
It certainly worked for Virginia’s Governor Trumpkin.
Disparate Treatment 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun notes a contrast (and, I must say, minces no words in so doing).
Know Them by the Company They Keep 0
The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini spells it out.
Dis Increasingly Coarse Discourse 0
Methinks Atrios has a point.
Afterthought:
Back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, Walter Cronkite on CBS and Huntley and Brinkley on NBC could bring us the day’s important news in half an hour.
KYW-AM in Philadelphia, one of the first “all news” stations, advertised “Give us 48 minutes and we’ll give you the world” (I used to catch KYW on the skip while I threw the weights around in the back yard at Pine View Farm; before the station moved to Philly, back when it was still in Cleveland, I would listen to Harv Morgan on KYW Cleveland in the evenings on my first transistor radio which Santa Claus had given me as a Christmas present).
There’s just not that much significant news in a day–a lot, but not 24-hours worth–so the 24-hour television news channels fill the void time with vapidity and with vile (and, natch, some are more vapid and vile than others).
Time Gone By 0
All Woked Up 0
At the Idoaho State Journal, Michael Corrigan argues that
Follow the link for his reasonsing.
Aside:
As I’ve mentioned before, “woke” means “aware.” Draw your own conclusions about those who don’t want us to be aware.
I’ve drawn mine.
The Graham Cracker . . . 0
. . . is still trying to weasel out of testifying in front of the Georgia grand jury.
We shall see whether the Supreme Supremacist Court lets him off the hook.
