From Pine View Farm

Geeking Out 0

Mageia v. 9 with the Plasma desktop. The wallpaper is from my collection.

Screenshot

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A Tune for the Times 0

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Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0

Qualified to provide medical care? You must be hallucinating, because they most certainly are.

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DOGE Bull in the China Shop 0

Frame One:  Elon Musk, holding a baseball bat, looks at a shelf of china.  The variious pots, pitchers, bottles, etc., on the shelf spell out the word

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How Republicans Support the Troops, Reprise 0

Today’s Republican Party honors the troops by erasing memories of them . . . .

. . . in recent weeks, the (Arlington National–ed.) cemetery’s public website has scrubbed dozens of pages on gravesites and educational materials that include histories of prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members buried in the cemetery, along with educational material on dozens of Medal of Honor recipients and maps of prominent gravesites of Marine Corps veterans and other services.

Cemetery officials confirmed to Task & Purpose that the pages were “unpublished” to meet recent orders by President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth targeting race and gender-related language and policies in the military.

Via Driftglass.

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Republican Thought Police, Reprise 0

Speaking of eliminating freedom of speech . . . .

Or you can read the transcript.

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Republican Thought Police 0

Journalism professor Rob Miraldi looks at Donald Trump’s decision to punish the Associated Press for not bending to his will refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America; he fears that it is but a beginning. Here’s bit from his article:

Last July I wrote a column in this space, warning of what was to come. I talked with Marty Baron, who for nine years observed Trump while editor of The Washington Post. Baron was clear.

Trump would not only go after freedom of the press. “Any effort to eliminate freedom of press,” he warns, “is the first step to eliminate freedom of speech.”

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Influencer Idiocy 0

So what’s a little cruelty to animals if it gets the clicks?

One more time, “social” media isn’t.

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QOTD 0

Baron d’Holbach:

Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.

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Recommended Viewing 0

Black Widow, with Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, George Raft, and Ginger Rogers.

If you can find it, it is well worth a watch. We caught it on Movies.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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The Squandering 0

Michael in Norfolk mourns America’s loss of respect and respectability. Here’s a bit:

It’s said that it takes years, if not a lifetime, to build a good reputation and only one scandal or betrayal to destroy one’s reputation. Since January 20, 2025, the Felon and his sycophants have destroyed America’s global reputation and sent repeated messages that America cannot be trusted and that treaties mean nothing to the Felon and the hapless GOP where no profiles in courage will be found.

Methinks he has a point.

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How Republicans Support the Troops 0

Crowded waiting room at the VA.  Sign at the reception window reads,

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Thom decodes de code.

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Republican Family Values, Meet a Notion of Immigrants 0

Natch, the result of the meeting is more mean for the sake of mean.

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Republican Family Values 0

More mean for the sake of mean, with some extra added stupid.

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

Robert Reich hears a rhyme. Here’s the opening couplet:

Trump is following Putin’s, Xi’s, and Orban’s playbook. First, take over military and intelligence operations by purging career officers and substituting ones personally loyal to you.

Next, subdue the courts by ignoring or threatening to ignore court rulings you disagree with.

Follow the link. The verse gets worse.

__________________-

*Mark Twain.

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QOTD 0

Tom Baker:

The Old Testament is my favourite science fantasy reading.

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A Tune for the Times, Numbers Gamers Dept. 0

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Gina Simmons Schneider reminds us that

(a)n MIT study found that false news, especially political disinformation, spreads many times faster than the truth on digital media. Fake news stories tend to be novel and inspire fear, disgust, and surprise, while true stories inspire sadness, joy, and trust. The researchers found that robots accelerated the spread of true and false news at the same rate.

Follow the link for some tools and techniques to protect yourself from poison on the disinformation superhighway.

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From Pine View Farm
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