From Pine View Farm

A Notion of Immigrants 0

At the Hartford Courant, Robert Helfand argues forcefully that the coverage of J. D. Vance’s and Donald Trump’s lies about Haitian immigrants is missing the point. Here’s how he opens his article (emphasis added); follow the link to read the rest.

As Donald Trump and JD Vance intensify their claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating pets, journalists have fallen into a familiar trap. Efforts to debunk these claims implicitly suggest that the candidates might be vindicated if genuine cases of feline abduction should emerge. That’s wrong. The real outrage is not the slander of one community, bad as that is, but the underlying message that some nationalities might be congenitally unfit to live in the United States.

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Medicare Disadvantage 0

Thom reports that hospitals are increasingly frustrated at dealing with Medicare “Advantage” plans, because those “insurers” just don’t want to, well, pay for medical care, because actually paying for stuff cuts into their profits.

As far as I am concerned, Medicare “Advantage” was a con and scam from the git-go. It was created solely to allow private companies to get their paws on public money. When I qualified for Medicare (yeah, I’m old), I made sure to avoid Medicare “Advantage” for the same reason I don’t answer phone calls when the caller ID reads “Scam Likely.”

But that’s just me.

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A Picture Is Worth 0

Curtis is watching TV with his Dad.  Curtis says,

Click to view the original image.

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Lies and Lying Liars 0

And this surprises you how?

For what it’s worth, this is hardly an isolated instance.

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Blowing in the Wind 0

Michael in Norfolk looks at the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and remarks

One has to wonder when more Americans will wake up to the reality of what climate change is wreaking and stop voting for politicians who deny or ignore its existence.

Follow the link for the rest of his remarks.

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QOTD 0

Euripides:

The lucky person passes for a genius.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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The Parody Party 0

Cliif Schecter argues that the Republicans no longer have a party.

They have a parody.

Via C&L, which has commentary.

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“One Ring To Bind Them All . . . .” 0

Calvin McNeill, in a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun, offers a theory as to the common denominator of Trumpism.

Methinks he’s onto something.

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Stormy Donald 0

Image of huge storm swirling off the Florida coast.  Voice says,

Click for the original image.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

More politeness on the pavement.

Too much selfish. Too many guns. Too much stupid.

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The Crypto Con 0

Paul Krugman is less than sanguine about crypto con artists’ growing interest in and influence on politics. A snippet:

. . . crypto is playing a big role in the 2024 election. Axios writes that according to an August report from Public Citizen, “The crypto industry accounts for almost half the money contributed by corporations to political action committees so far in 2024.”

(snip)

So crypto’s political spending clearly seems motivated by financial self-interest, while the right-wing lurch of other tech bros may — as a Facebook founder, Chris Hughes, put it the other day in The New York Times — reflect a sense of common cause with Trump, who like them believes that he shouldn’t have to play by the rules.

Follow the link for the full article.

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If One Standard Is Good, Two Much Be Better 0

PoliticalProf seems to think that one thing is not like the other thing.

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QOTD 0

Joseph Campbell:

Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Republican Family Values 0

The editorial board of the Las Vegas Sun notes the “mean for the sake of mean” appears to be a Republican Family Value.

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The Pick-Up Line 0

Little Red Riding is confronted by the Big Bad Wolf, who's wearing a MAGA hat.  Grinning evilly, wolf says,

Click to view the original image.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

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The Quizzical Quandary 0

Caption:  Actual undecided voters ordering dinner.  Image:  Man and woman looking at menus as waiter awaits their orders.  Man says,

Click to view the original image.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Settle disagreements with politeness.

Musical NotesGuns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.

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From Pine View Farm
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