2022 archive
Activating Acting Out 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Mark Travers discusses anger as a conscious tactic. He focuses on sports, but, given the state of dis coarse discourse, I think his article can help understand some of the political tactic we see daily, particularly on the right.
Vaccine Nation 0
Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as poetic justice.
Taking the Veil 0
So much for “render unto Caesar.”
Aside:
This is a dead giveaway–it’s all (or at least mostly) about the Benjamins.
Boebert Is the New Gohmert 0
(Warning: Short commercial at the end.)
Establishmentarians 0
At AL.com, Frances Coleman gets to the heart of establishmentarianism (emphasis added):
Their declarations . . . aren’t about religion. They’re about co-opting religion for irreligious ends.
Follow the link for the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Demonstrate politeness at your social gatherings.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid,
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you, brother,
You won’t find one without the other.
Republican Family Values 0
A caller wonders why so many persons, particularly on the right, seem obsessed with transgender persons. This is something that also puzzles me, as transgender persons are a minuscule portion of society, so much so that most persons will likely spend their entire lives with ever meeting a transgender person. (Warning: Short promo at the end.)
Of course, one explanation may simply be that purveyors of hate know that hate sells and hating trans persons is the sales pitch du jour.
“Ethics Committees” 0
Slate reports on a phenomenon that’s occurring in states that have enacted strict abortion laws in the wake of the Dobbs ruling. Here’s the nub; follow the link for a long and detailed exploration of the topic (emphasis added).
After Roe’s fall, ethics committees are taking on a new responsibility: determining whether a pregnant patient suffering a medical emergency may lawfully obtain an abortion.
Methinks that there must be another phrase, one much more suitable than “ethics committees,” to describe said function.
I wonder what it might be?
(Image via Job’s Anger.)
Courting Disaster 0
At the Sacramento Bee, Erwin Chermerinsky reveals the con behind the conservative reactionary justices’ claim that they are merely citing precedent from the distant past. Here’s a bit of his column:
Historical practice is often inconsistent, allowing justices to pick the examples that support the conclusions they want. For instance, the court dismissed many laws regulating concealed weapons and gave no weight to the fact that the New York law they overturned has existed since 1911. The conservatives on the court ignore history when it does not help their agenda.
QOTD 0
Maurice Davis:
It seems to me that any cult has to have the following characteristics:
- One, a dictatorial leader, often called charismatic, who has total and unlimited control over his group.
- Two, followers who have abdicated the right to say no, the right to pass judgment, the right to protest, who have sold their souls for the security of slavery.
- Three, possibly the most dangerous doctrine known to our civilization, that the end justifies the means . . . .
Precedented 0
As Mark Twain once pointed out, “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”