2024 archive
The Privatization Scam 0
(David takes two calls. The first is about the privatization scam and is well worth a listen. The second is about China, but it’s still timely.)
So, Who Killed Dead Lobster? 0
I blame the Chicago School, whose theories fed the notion that “return to shareholders” is the ultimate responsibility of a business, greater than maintaining the health and integrity of the business itself. This, in turn, provided a rationalization for looters to claim that, if looting a business increased return to shareholders, then, well, looting a business is a righteous act in the interest of the greater good.
Or, to put it another way, the Chicago School provided Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes for the Gordon Gekkos of the world, who proclaim that “Greed is good.”
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” exposes a child to politeness.
(snip)
Police said that preliminary investigations revealed the boy had picked up an unsecured firearm and accidentally shot himself.
Thus passeth another day in the NRA’s Garden of Bleedin’.
Republican Thought Police 0
The Editorial Staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune suggests that Republican Thought Police look back on history and shout, “Get me rewrite!”
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Via Rolling Stone, meet one of the New Secesh.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Self-politeness is the politest kind.
According to other information gleaned from Facebook, the incident happened during a girls volleyball game.
Too many guns. Too much stupid.
Republican Thought Police 0
Farron discusses Minnesota’s banning book bans.
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
Now it is Kimball Shinkoskey, writing at the Las Vegas Sun, who hears a rhyme.
She is responding to “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan’s statement on May 26 that “spreading lies about elections is free speech.” Here’s a bit of what she has to say:
________________
*Mark Twain.
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
Writing at AL.com, Roy S. Johnson finds (Alabama, since he’s in Alabama) Republicans’ reaction to be ironic, bemusing, and not at all surprising. Here are a couple of snippets from his article (emphasis added):
They were all-in on “rule of law” as long as most rulings tilted in their favor.
Now that one of their own—their big boo-thang—is a felon, justifiably convicted under rule of law by a jury of his peers, Alabama’s top Republicans are wailing louder than the bundled occupants of a neonatal nursery. Call it the big boo-hoo.
(snip)
With the 2024 presidential election looming in November and felon Trump the presumptive Republican nominee, I’m not shocked at the party-line tears shed by the faithful. Even if it exposes their party’s blatant and pitiful hypocrisy about justice and the rule of law.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another child:
And another news writer who is ignorant of the difference between “accidentally” and “negligently.”
Too many guns. Too much stupid.
We are a broken society.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
At the Idaho State Journal, Nick Geir attacks a full ennead of Donald Trump’s lies about events that the U. S.-Mexico border with a most starting weapon: actual data.
Here’s one lies he dissects (emphasis in the original):
83% appear for asylum hearings
Trump pulls yet another figure out of the air: he asserts that only 3% of those who claim asylum show up for their court hearings. I’ve looked at several studies and the number of asylum seekers who do report ranges from 83% to 92%. It is essential to note that migrants who report to authorities are not, under the 1980 Refugee Act, illegal aliens.
Follow the link for the remaining octad.
The Surveillance Society 0
Joanna Pozzulo, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, warns about the increasing use of automated surveilance technology, particularly facial recognition. She points out that, despite the faith that persons put in these machines, they are by no means infallible.
She makes three main points:
- Surveillance cameras are becoming ubiquitous with facial recognition software often present as well.
- The accuracy of facial recognition significantly decreases for women, young adults, and racialized people.
- Mistaken identification can lead to wrongful prosecution and conviction.
Given the proliferation of these technologies, I think her piece is well worth a read.