From Pine View Farm

Prescience 0

Via The Bob Cesca Show After Party.

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Lowering the Barr 0

Connie Estrich, who went to law school with Attorney-General William Barr and remembers him as an honorable man, wonders what has happened to the Bill Barr she knew.

No excerpt or summary can do justice to her article. Just read it.

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A Question of Timing 0

Title:  Mass Shooting Debate Guide.  Image One:  Donald Trump, wearing MAGA hat and

Click for the original image.

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Facebook Frolics 0

Mayoral frolics.

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Minimum Qualifications 0

Paul Ekman, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, identifies six personality (as opposed to political) characteristics which he considers desirable in a president or presidential candidate. They are:

  • Not impulsive
  • Comfortable with ambiguity
  • Tolerates taking risks
  • Values transparency
  • Takes the blame for mistaken actions
  • Seeks to act consistently with our American heritage

Follow the link for his reasoning, and, as you do so, reflect on how well the incumbent embodies these qualities.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

One of those “responsible gun owners” was just horsin’ around . . . .

Jasper, a 9-year-old horse, was grazing in an Oregon pasture over the weekend when shots were fired at the animal — hitting him in the face and rear thigh, according to authorities.

(snip)

“He was limping, dragging that leg — it was really swollen. He just had marginal interest in food,” said Kelly Nelson, the owner of the boarding facility that cares for Jasper, according to KOIN. “His eyes just looked really dull and like he was in a lot of pain.”

And, in related news, politeness is going to the dogs.

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Just the Vaxx, Ma’am 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Bryna Siegel tries to make sense of the maelstrom of misinformation magnified in the electrons of the inner webs, primarily via “social” media. She focuses on anti-vaxx as a springboard. A nugget:

‘Truth,’ or ‘truthiness’ (as the pundit Steven Colbert has called it) is constantly being presented as relative to what may be expedient to believe. Untruthful, fake or alternative facts about autism and vaccines include asserting that vaccines are cultured on non-kosher beef extracts or pork (freaking out ultra-Orthodox Jews), or that mercury preservatives in vaccines poison children (freaking out everyone else), or that the potential danger of multiple vaccines at once has never been studied compared to spreading out vaccines. All these assertions about vaccines are not true, but are often spread as true from post-to-post, blog-to-blog, website to website.

I commend the entire piece to your attention.

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QOTD 0

William Greider:

Americans cannot teach democracy to the world until they restore their own.

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Meta: Blogroll 0

I’ve just gone through my Blogroll and deleted a few sites that are no longer active. (That’s something I’d encourage my fellow bloggers to do from time to time, based on my experience with their blogrolls. . . .)

I’ll likely add a few new links when I get a round tuit.

I know that blogrolls seem to have become an anachronism in these days of twits and Zuckers, but, dammit, it’s my site and I’ll try if I want to. You would try too if it happened to you.

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Day of the D 0

Television shows Donald Trump with headline,

Via Job’s Anger.

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Stray Thought 0

I’m so old that I can remember when politicians of a certain age voluntarily entered retirement.

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“I Can Get It for You Wholesale” 0

“I got people.”

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Plastic People, You’re Such a Drag* 0

And it looks like all of us are becoming plastic people:

And new research estimates that tens of thousands of the little particles (of plastic–ed.), often smaller than the eye can see, find their way inside our bodies each year.

The study estimates that adults consume and inhale at least 98,000 of the particles each year, based on a review of previous research about microplastic intake from things like seafood, honey, bottled water and beer.

Many more particles at the link.
______________

*With apologies to Frank Zappa.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Extend the hand of politeness to our four-legged friends.

A Williams County man has been charged with felony animal cruelty after allegedly shooting and killing four dogs.

Philip H. Taylor, 54, of Bryan, Ohio, who is charged with a fifth-degree felony, is accused of killing the dogs Saturday with a handgun, according to records in Bryan Municipal Court.

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Facebook Frolics, Rule of Lawless Dept. 0

Will Bunch considers the Philadelphia police officers who have been outed for racist rants on the Zuckerborg and the implications of their behavior. An excerpt:

And what would be true justice for Philadelphia cops who wrote such terrible things? It’s not an easy call. I’ve always been a free speech zealot, and I’ve always supported the right of people to voice their own opinions when they’re off the job. But these weren’t sewer workers spouting off at 1 a.m. about Bernie Sanders or President Trump. What these police officers wrote, in many of the cases, directly impacted their ability to treat people fairly in the neighborhoods we pay them to protect.

In a related item, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board points out that

(w)e give police enormous powers – to arrest, search, and use deadly force – to protect citizens. In exchange, we must be able to trust our police. Trust is key to their ability to respond and investigate crime.

That’s why the existence of these posts represents a crisis in this city and elsewhere.

It’s not just in Philly, folks.

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Unnaturalizing Citizens 0

David points out the absurd lengths to which wingnuts will take their conspiratorial thinking.

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QOTD 0

Dorothy Thompson:

No people ever recognize their dictator in advance. He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument — the Incorporated National Will.

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De-Ny, the Science Guy 0

Title:  Our New Climage Science Guidelines.  Image One:  Donald Trump with his hands over his eyes saying,

Via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.

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In Trump World, Only Some Persons Count 0

Title:  Trump Era Census Count.  Image:  Group of persons of different races and ethnicities, including three white persons.  The caption reads,

Via Job’s Anger.

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If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0

Woman reading about anti-abortion laws says,

Click for the original image.

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From Pine View Farm
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