From Pine View Farm

Hate Sells category archive

Know Them by the Company They Keep 0

The Rude One pulls nary a punch.

Methinks, though, that he could just as easily–perhaps even more accurately–have used the term “Secesh.”

Share

A Notion of Immigrants 0

Share

Twits Own Twitter X Offenders 0

John Oliver profiles Elon Musk (warning: mild language).

Via C&L, which has commentary.

Share

Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

It looks like old times there may not be forgotten.

Shawn and Monica Williams, like many others, retired in the Grand Strand (a beachfront area in South Carolina–ed.), but a scary encounter has them questioning if it’s safe to stay.

The Black couple said they walked outside to a burning cross facing their home over Thanksgiving weekend.

“There was a cross burning about eight feet from our fence,” Monica said. “We were speechless because we’ve never experienced something like that.”

More at the link.

Share

Dis Coarse Discourse 0

At my local rag, columnist David Hall writes eloquently of an incident of racist name-calling at a college basketball game. I commend his article to your attention.

This bit, in particular, caught my eye:

Contrary to some circulating theories, Americans aren’t any angrier or more violent or more racist than they were at any other point; they just feel more entitled to express the worst parts of themselves than they have in decades. That’s not progress.

Methinks he has a point.

Share

“I Know You Are But What Am I,” Reprise 0

The Rude One analyzes the Republican game plan. (Warning: Rudeness.)

Share

Know Them by the Company They Keep 0

Methinks the Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini is onto something.

Share

American Legacy 0

America’s original sin of chattel slavery refuses to go away.

It may morph and reshape, it may reclothe and redrape, but it continues to poison our polity.

Title:  Far Right.  Image:  Reaching out from under a manhole bearing the thirteen stars of the original United States flag is an arm wearing a Nazi armband.

Click to view the original image.

Share

Freedom of Screech 0

No doubt you’ve been unable to avoid at least some coverage of the who-shot-john about the college presidents who were called to testify before the House Education Committee last week, testimony which led to the ouster of one of them.*

At Above the Law, Mark Herrmann offers a perspective on the issue raised by said who-shot-john.

I don’t know whether I agree with him, but I commend it as a worthwhile read.

____________________

*I have paid as little attention to it as possible, primarily because I think nobody who was involved was right, everybody was wrong, and, most especialliest, nobody was thinking clearly.

Share

Denial Is Not Just a River in Egypt 0

Chris Satullo looks at the numbers, which indicate that unemployment is down, inflation is down, employment is up, and, that in general, the economy is in the best shape it’s been in years.

He wonders why so many person aren’t willing to believe the evidence. Here’s a bit from his article:

OK, to review: Facts don’t matter. Verified, on-point statistics don’t matter. Only aggrieved feelings – and anecdotes that flatter those feelings – matter.

(snip)

Vast numbers of Americans, for a variety of reasons, prefer to feel miserable, angry, oppressed, screwed, cornered. And eager to blame the president, the guy on whose watch all those real economic measures improved, for how they feel.

. . . and many apparently feel that the only way to lift us out of these doldrums is to bring back the guy who told us to drink bleach to cure COVID.

Or, to put is another way, “It’s the Stupid, Economy.”

Share

A Question of Identity 0

Not long ago, I heard an apocryphal quotation from a fictional Native America chief. I forget exactly where, but it stuck with me. The chief was speaking to a cavalry officer and said something like this: “If you win a battle, it’s a victory. If we win, it’s a massacre.”

At Psychology Today Blogs, Joe Pierre explores the line between labeling acts of violence as “terrorism” or as “mental illness.” Here’s a bit:

In summary, evidence from several experimental studies indicates that we’re more likely to attribute terrorist violence to mental illness when the perpetrator aligns with our own personal identities or ideological positions. This appears to function in an identity-preserving way, allowing us to think of ourselves and our larger group identities as “good” by discounting violence perpetrated by those in our ingroups as an aberrancy of mental illness. Conversely, when perpetrators are viewed as “others,” in terms of either identity or ideology, we’re more likely to blame violence on ideological belief, with moral culpability assigned accordingly.

I think his article a worthwhile read, especially in the light of recent events.

Share

News You Could Lose 0

Jen Psaki discusses Donald Trump’s threats to a free press.

Via C&L, which has commentary.

Share

Sound Familiar? 0

At the Idaho State Journal, Mike Murphy asks whether this reminds you anyone in the news.

Share

Dis Coarse Discourse 0

In a longer article musing about the long-term potential of what’s been inaccurately dubbed “artificial intelligence,” John Nosta aptly describes the clamoring coming from the American right-wing. Here’s the bit that caught my eye:

Historically, leaders who have etched their names in the annals of tyranny often displayed a marked penchant for control, driven not by the depth of their understanding or the breadth of their knowledge, but by simpler, more primal desires. These figures, from the infamous dictators of the 20th century to the autocrats of ancient empires, often employed fear and manipulation to cement their power, rather than leveraging intelligence for the greater good.

Share

Time Bomb 0

Two soldiers labeled

Click to view the original image.

Hate sells, because hating is easier than thinking.

Afterthought:

My father fought Nazis in WWII.

We should follow his example and fight them now.

Share

Twits on Twitter X Offenders, Reprise 0

Frame One, captioned

Click for the original image.

Share

Precedented 0

Michael in Norfolk is not sanguine.

Here’s a bit from his post:

As for much of the public, they remain oblivious of the historical antecedents Trump draws on that ought to be setting off alarm bells and sirens.

Follow the link for context.

Share

Twits Own Twitter X Offenders 0

Elon Musk exercises his freedom of screech.

Share

A Tune for the Times 0

Share

Sheep’s Clothing . . . 0

. . . But Richard Barsanti sees through the disguise.

Share
From Pine View Farm
Privacy Policy

This website does not track you.

It contains no private information. It does not drop persistent cookies, does not collect data other than incoming ip addresses and page views (the internet is a public place), and certainly does not collect and sell your information to others.

Some sites that I link to may try to track you, but that's between you and them, not you and me.

I do collect statistics, but I use a simple stand-alone Wordpress plugin, not third-party services such as Google Analitics over which I have no control.

Finally, this is website is a hobby. It's a hobby in which I am deeply invested, about which I care deeply, and which has enabled me to learn a lot about computers and computing, but it is still ultimately an avocation, not a vocation; it is certainly not a money-making enterprise (unless you click the "Donate" button--go ahead, you can be the first!).

I appreciate your visiting this site, and I desire not to violate your trust.