November, 2022 archive
Dis Coarser Discourse 0
Arnie D. Fielkow and Tracie Washington, writing at NOLA.com, have a history of political disagreements. However, writing at NOLA.com, they report that there is one thing on which they do agree. Two snippets:
(snip)
Clearly, the actions and dog-whistles of certain political leadership have empowered and legitimized bigots. Most thought neo-Nazis and the KKK were in the past, but frighteningly they have publicly re-emerged with new allies from QAnon, the Proud Boys, and others. Who would have ever thought that our nation’s Capitol would be attacked or, maybe worse, that some would try to justify one of the worst days in US history? Is this really the America we all want?
Meanwhile, Will Bunch offers a theory as to the underlying cause; follow the link for his complete essay:
Cored Values 0
Michael in Norfolk notes that Republicans, particularly evangelical they-call-themselves Christians have redefined “freedom of religion” to “freedom to religion.” A nugget from his article:
(Broken link fixed.)
“Look in the Mirror, Boy” 0
A reader of the Portland Press Herald channels Pogo in her letter to the editor.
(Syntax error corexxted.)
“Republicans Don’t Need Evidence” 0
Farron contemns the right-wing’s “litter boxes in school” lie and their gullible dupes, symps, and fellow travelers who buy into it.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Afterthought:
I spent many years as a corporate trainer, doing mostly management training. Based on how Musk has been exercising his stewardship (sewership?) of Twitter, I venture that he could benefit from the “Basic Supervisory Skills” course that I used to teach to newly promoted supervisors.
I also had the privilege to work for a number of good bosses who were an absolute pleasure to work for (and with, because a good boss knows how to make you feel as if you are working with him or her, not just for him or her); I also had three really bad ones.
I would not nominate Musk for the former category.
Devolution 0
Methinks my old Philly friend Noz is on to something that is indeed rather disquieting.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another responsible gun owner (sic) traverses the turnpike with politeness.
Some Musings 0
I’ve been amused and I’ve been bemused.
I’ve certainly been demused. Most of the news these days is demusing.
I’ve even been emused by ejokes.
Why can’t I be cmused?
I’ll have to muse on that.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, journalism professor Edward Wasserman argues that algorithms employed by “social” media to “attract eyeballs” and “promote engagement,” may serve to foment hate and hate-fueled violence by feeding those inclined to hatred and bigotry more of the same. He argues that, in too many cases, this has lead to hate-fueled violence and offers multiple examples thereof.
He also notes that the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996, “when the internet was young,” shields internet platforms from liability for user-generated content.
Then he looks at the difference between then and now (emphasis added).
Nowadays, the argument (in a lawsuit he refers to elsewhere in the article–ed.) goes, the entire business of internet services has undergone a radical transformation. No longer docile whiteboards, social media are mega-businesses built on aggressively monitoring and manipulating user behavior — dangling incentives and promoting content with pitch-perfect lures, all to maximize the time users spend online and goose the ad revenue their engagement brings in.
I commend his article to your attention. And, remember, “social” media isn’t.
Extra-Special Bonus QOTD 0
Vincent Price:
Here in America, racial and religious hatred does exist, sustained by the political adventurers and plain crackpots who are willing scrap the democratic way of life to attain their own ends. Prejudice in America is centered in their addled philosophy.
But unless we guard ourselves and our families, it can find its way into our into our own lives. Then the poison would do its work, undermining America’s unity, sabotaging our prestige abroad, and wrecking our ideal of individual freedom. In your family life, you can effectively carry on a campaign against prejudice.
Our youngsters grow up with a pride in their country. Teach them that part of that pride is our tradition of accepting or rejecting people on their individual worth, not on the basis of race or religion or color. Remember, freedom and prejudice can’t exist side by side. If you choose freedom, fight prejudice.
Vincent Price recorded those words as the closing remarks for a radio show that aired over seven decades ago (they were aired multiple times). Note that these shows aired shortly after the Dixiecrat Party fielded a segregationist candidate to oppose Harry Truman in the presidential election of 1948. I challenge anyone to prove Price wrong.
Of course, his remarks on “our tradition of accepting people on their individual worth” gloss over the dark side of America’s history, but they also hold aloft the best of what some refer to as “the American ideal.” And his comments about “political adventurers . . . who are willing scrap the democratic way of life” may be truer now than when he said them.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Once more, we are reminded that “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.
