“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” exposes a child to politeness.
Underneath the front passenger seat was a loaded 9mm Glock handgun which had been stored in an unlocked case, inadvertently left by the female’s fiancé, according to state police.
The three-years-old found the gun and fired it, but, in this case at least, no one was injured.
Afterthought:
One must needs note that “negligently” and “inadvertently,” like “negligently” and “accidentally,” are not synonyms.
Stray Thought 0
I was sitting here watching a commercial for sports betting (which I consider con of epic proportions, but that’s a whole nother story), and I realized just how much fuller my life is now that I don’t pay attention to football.
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Tyler Cowen argues that we’re looking at the problem of proliferating mis- and disinformation from the wrong perspective. A snippet (emphasis added):
Speaking in economic terms, the problem with misinformation is demand, not supply
Check out his reasoning. Methinks he makes a persuasive case.
Car Wars, Reprise 0
David talks with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about electric vehicles, public transit, and related issues.
“Look Over Here at This Shiny Thing” 0
Farron unslights the slight of hand.
Dis Coarse Discourse . . . 0
. . . has completely gone to the dog.
Another Voter Fraud Fraudster 0
And, natch, like almost all the others who have been caught, it’s a Republican.
Methinks Republicans’ allegations of voter fraud are a massive example of psychological projection.
They cheat, so they reckon everybody else does too.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Disinformation campaigns are nothing new. So too are disinformation campaigns on the Disinformaation Superhighway, particularly in the past two decades via “social” media.
At his website, security expert Bruce Schneier offers a thoughtful take on the effects chatbots and large language models on dis coarse discourse. Here’s a bit:
The entire piece is worth the few moments it will take you to read it.
QOTD 0
Josephine Tey:
If you see a giraffe once a year, it remains a spectacle; if you see it daily, it becomes part of the scenery.
Tey, Josephine, The Franchise Affair (New York: Scribner, 2020) p. 172
Manipulation Nation 0
Retired psychology and business professor Dale Hartley looks at the differences between psychopaths and manipulators (he uses the term “Machiavellians”). Here’s one that he notes.
Follow the link and see if the characteristics he describes remind you of anyone in the news–or, for that matter, anyone who appears on Fox News or any of its clones and imitators.
Vaccine Nation 0
PoliticalProf cites (in)credible sources that lead him to express a concern that he may have become zombiefied by yesterday’s emergency alert test.
Aside:
Y’know, he may be onto something. It’s pretty clear that something is eating away (some of) this country’s brains.
(I also got the alert. I guess I’m a zombie too.)
The McCarthy Error 0
Stephen Colbert points out the perfidy and emphasizes the emptiness.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
A responsbile gun owner sets an example of sportsmanship with politeness.
The Label behind “No Labels” 0
Jim Hightower follows the money.