2025 archive
The Gaslight Pipeline 0
David parses the Trump maladministration’s doubletalk on tariffs, while noting the authoritarian aspect of expecting persons to believe stuff when their own day-to-day experiences are contrary thereunto.
The Entitlement Society 0
Via the Charlotte Observer, LZ Granderson argues that “(m)en like Trump represent what the founders were fighting against.” Here’s a bit of his argument:
Their aversion wasn’t to wealth and power. It was about what can happen to a person who grows up knowing nothing but wealth and power.
Follow the link for the rest of his reasoning.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Celebrate children’s birthdays with politeness.
And thus passeth more lives in the NRA’s Garden of Bleedin’.
The Man Who Would Be King 0
Michael in Norfolk nails it. A snippet:
Follow the link for context.
Behind That Curtain* 0
David notes that, thanks to Elon Musk’s new feature on Xitter (a feature which I suspect Musk now regrets), a number of MAGA “influencers” have been revealed to be–er–less than veracious (but most definitely voracious). (And this surprises you how?)
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
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*With apologies to Earl Derr Biggers.
American Stasi 0
Via the Las Vegas Sun, law professor Noah Feldman explores why ICE is being allowed to run rampant over the legal rights of immigrants–properly documented or not–and American citizens.
He is somewhat less than sanguine. Here’s a snippet:
I commend the piece to your attention.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A willing accomplice? Philadphia’s WPVI reports that scammers are using AI to hype their holiday scams.
Short Attention Span Theatrics 0
We keep hearing claims that each new stunt by the Trump maladministration is a “distraction” to make us forget the last stunt.
I don’t buy it, that is, I don’t buy that a worst thing is a good strategy to take attention from a worse thing to take attention from a bad thing and so on. Rather, I think that it’s a collection of lots of bad things happening at the same time, so many bad things it boggles the mind. To quote Steve M.,
Follow the link. His entire post is worth the couple of minutes it will take to read it.