2024 archive
Freedom of Screech 0
Rob Miraldi takes a thoughtful at the issues surrounding efforts to hold Donald Trump responsible for coarsening dis coarse discourse. A nugget:
In theory, the answer is no. Threatening national security is not protected; publishing sexually explicit and obscene material is not protected; and lighting the flames of violence with inciteful language is also prohibited.
But the incitement exception has always been tricky, more now than ever. “Every idea is an incitement,” U.S. Supreme Court Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes said in 1925. Maybe only the person who commits violence should be prosecuted, not the person who causes it?
Follow the link for his complete article.
QOTD 0
William Anton, in the voice of Assistant D.A. George Donovan:
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.
The Climates They Are a-Changing 0
It’s the middle of January and we’re running the air conditioner. The high today was in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. According to my sidebar over there (——–>) on the right, it’s 70 at this moment.
Yeah, I know that “climate” and “weather” are not the same thing, but we wouldn’t be having this kind of weather in bleepin’ January if the climates they were not a-changing.
I grew up about 40 miles north of where I type this. Back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, 50 Fahrenheits in January qualified as a warm day.
I am not sanguine.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
The Majority Report crew points out that refugees fleeing for their lives and safety are not “invaders” and call out Texas’s attempt to secede, if not de jure, at least de facto to violate the Constitution.
A Reckless Driver on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
Musk multiplies the misinformation and disseminates the disinformation. From The New York Times:
This time, there were no fact checks. And the X algorithm — under Mr. Musk’s direct control — helped the posts reach large audiences, in some cases drawing many millions of views.
Since taking control of the site, Mr. Musk has dismantled the platform’s system for flagging false election content, arguing it amounted to election interference.
Precedented 0
Robert Reich sees a disturbing precedent to the rhetoric and tactics of Donald Trump and his followers.
Just go read it.
Recommended Viewing 0
The Secret Life of . . . ., a humorous, well, really, snarky and sardonic look at the “secret lives” of historical figures, such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Calligula, and Casanova.
I’m watching it on Tubi.
Republican Family Values 0
(Warning: Poor sound quality, but still worth a listen.)
Gazing at Gaza 0
Der Spiegel takes a long and deep look at the situation in the Middle East and at the background. Christoph Reuter und Monika Bolliger, authors of the story, come to the disturbing conclusion that “the risk of escalation in the Middle East is growing.”
Given the often contradictory and frequently emotionally-charged reporting and commentary on events there, I think this article is well worth the few minutes it will take you to read it.
“Mean Girls” 0
Jamie Stiehm suggests that you skip the movie.
Watch the real mean girls in the House of Representatives instead.
Republican Thought Police, Reprise 0
Left to their own devices, the Republican Thought Police would ban Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra and Maugham’s Of Human Bondage (one of my favorite books, by the way), not to mention First Samuel.
We are a society of stupid striving to become a society of ignorant.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Michael in Norfolk minces no words.