2023 archive
Republican Family Values 0
Roy S. Johnson marvels at the petty cruelty directed towards young trans “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney by the party of mean for the sake of mean. A snippet:
I mean, really. Bigots must be out there livin’ large if they have time for this.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Show politeness to our animal friends.
“Somebody pulled up on the side of the road and shot him,” he said. “I’d love to ask them ‘What in the world were they thinking?’ and then let them go to jail for it.”
Courting Disaster 0
At the Idaho State Journal, Jesse Robison catches a whiff from a sty.
The Disinformation Contagion 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Paul Thagard discusses several strategies for protection ourselves from mis- and disinformation. In this time of fake news and news fakers, both professional and amateur, his piece is a worthwhile read. Here are a few of the strategies he suggests; follow the link for the rest.
1. Spot pieces of misinformation by noticing that they contradict what is already well-known.
2. Locate the source of the information and determine whether it has a track record of spreading lies or truths.
3. Examine the motives of the source. Does it care about the truth, or is it simply furthering its own ends? Motivated reasoning is a major cause of misinformation.
Geeking Out 0
I do likes me my purty pictures.
That’s Mageia Linux v. 8 with the Fluxbox window manager.
“All in a Day’s Work” 0
You may recall that Newport News, just on the other side of James River from where I sit, is where a first-grader shot his teacher. Now Newport News wants the teacher’s law suit to be dismissed. Here’s a bit from the article at Law and Crime:
On Wednesday, the school board asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
The motion from the school district, which notes that Zwerner has so far refused to accept payment under Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Act, argues that the Newport News Circuit Court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the case because being shot by a first-grader is, essentially, a risk that all teachers take.
It’s been a long time since I was a first-grader, but I’m pretty sure that none of my classmates came to school packing heat. Heck, for that matter, I can say that about my 12th-grade classmates. And my college and grad school classmates. And my co-workers in every job I ever had.
We are a broken society.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron. Yet another child learns about hospitals.
The Lake Effect, Republican Cancel Culture Dept. 0
The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts is less than enamored with Kari Lake’s notion Republicans don’t need presidential primaries next year because Donald Trump already has the nomination sewn up.
And, in more news of Republican cancel culture . . . .
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Thinking of the firings of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon, Jill Switzer has a wonder:
Her entire article is worth a look.
Precedented 0
George B. Dew sees an historical precedent for Florida Governor DeSantis.
It’s King George III.
Follow the link for his reasoning.
The Privatization Scam 0
The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell reports on the difficulties reporters encounter in trying to find out what Florida is getting in return for its school voucher money. A snippet; details at the link:
A Question of Identification 0
Sam and his crew discuss an exchange between Matt Walsh and a college student who had to unmitigated gall to question him. First, they air the edited version as released the Young America’s Foundation, then a longer version, and critique the differences.
Commentary from the Majority Report’s Youtube page is below the fold.
Kidnapped! 0
Michael Liedtke tells of his experience with a driverless cab in San Francisco.
Aside:
Ii am–er–let’s just say–highly skeptical that self-driving cars will be a thing.