From Pine View Farm

RFK Jr. and the Aspersion Syndrome 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, psychology professor Jonathan D. Raskin argues that RFK Jr.’s reckless and misinformed (disinformed?) statements about autism are–er–less than helpful. He writes that the “HHS Secretary’s lack of knowledge about autism places those with autism at risk.”

Raskin goes on to make three main points:

  • People on the autism spectrum are best thought of as different, not disordered.
  • Autism occurs on a spectrum and most people carrying the diagnosis live productive lives.
  • RFK’s characterization of those with autism is dangerous.

Follow the link to learn what Kennedy said that prompted Raskin to write the article and to see a detailed exploration of the points cited above.

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QOTD 0

Baron d’Holbach:

Everything that passes in the world, proves to us, in the clearest manner, that it is not governed by an intelligent being.

Q. E. D.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Once More into the Breach of Faith 0

At the Kansas City Star, Dean A. Deal comments on the current federal maldaministration’s sewership of approach to the responsibilities of office. A snippet; follow the link for the evidence.

Foreign affairs are conducted like television scripts; domestic policy is treated like a loyalty test; and the presidency, once a symbol of democratic stability, has become a revolving stage for provocation, grievance and ego. This is more than a political disagreement. It is a breach of faith.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

And, as we know, a polite society is a clean society.

The police chief said the children’s father was cleaning his pistol at the kitchen table when a round left in the chamber went off. The bullet struck his 4-year-old child in the upper left arm and then grazed the right arm of his 5-year-old child.

One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Donald Trump rolling whitewash over

Click for the original image.

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If It Walks like a Duck Quack . . . . 0

Via C&L, which has commentary.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

At the Las Vegas Sun, Haajrah Gilani writes that Americans of Japanese descent see Donald Trump’s treatment of immigrants and hear rhymes of the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Here’s a bit from his article:

. . . . Ishibashi has organized opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies. Now, she focuses on confronting the resurrection of the Alien Enemies Act — a measure not deployed since World War II, when it devastated her family and thousands of other Japanese Americans, tearing apart communities and leaving generational scars.

___________________

*Mark Twain.

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Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0

Capable of making stuff up out of thin air? You betcha!

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QOTD 0

Keram Malicki-Sánchez, in the voice of Lyn Moncrief:

There’s a great deal to be learned from the mistakes of others.

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And Now for a Musical Interlude 0

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

If you have a dispute with your neighbors, be sure to settle it with politeness.

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A Notion of Immigrants, Catch-22 Dept. 0

He went for a walk, got lost, got arrested by ICE, was incarcerated for over a week, and nearly got deported exiled.

ICE claimed that he did not have “proper immigration documents.”

Not being an immigrant, of course he didn’t.

Catch-22.

It’s the best catch there is.

You can read the full news report here.

(Broken link fixed.)

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DOGE Bull 0

See the news report Farron discusses.

Afterthought:

I’ve decoded de code.

DOGE does not stand for “Department of Government Efficiency.”

It stands for “Destroy Our Government Elon.”

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Dishonor Guard 0

Frame One, captioned

Click to view the original image.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

Sounds like a rhyme to me.

Passage from the Diary of Anne Frank dated January 13, 1943?  Terrible things are happening outside.  Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes.  Familes are torn apart.  Men, women, and children are separated.  Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.

Image via Balloon Juice.

_______________

*Mark Twain.

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Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0

Telling you what you want to hear? Just maybe.

At Psychology Today Blogs, John Nosta argues that AI bots are being engineered to tell us what they their algorithms “think” we want to hear. A snippet:

So, when an LLM tells you you’re onto something—or echoes your language back with elegant variation—it activates the same cognitive loop as being understood by another person. But the model isn’t agreeing because it believes you’re right. It’s agreeing because it’s trained to. As I previously noted in my story on cognitive entrapment, “The machine doesn’t challenge you. It adapts to you.”

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QOTD 0

John Rawls:

The suppression of liberty is always likely to be irrational.

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A Tune for the Times 0

From the Youtube page:

What do you have when you lose the rule of law, due process, and justice, and almost half the population thinks that’s okay? They also think having an oligarchic authoritarian in charge is a good thing). You have USA – 2025

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The Rule of Lawless Meets a Notion of Immigrants 0

ICE Agent taking Lady Justice, who's wearing a sash labeled

Via Job’s Anger.

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