“Principled Conservatives”
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Field presents an argument that, as regards today’s Republican Party, “principled conservative” in an oxymoron.
Giving America the Business 0
At The Roanoke Times, Nancy Liebrecht skewers the notion that successful business persons are ipso facto qualified to run governments.
Let alone unsuccessful ones.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump is not a successful businessman. He is talented at creating that image, but his trail of bankruptcies, scams, and failed businesses should have warned voters of his inherent incompetence. 200,000 deaths later, we are paying the price for ignoring his record.
More at the link.
The Epidemiologist Is Released . . . 0
. . . and promptly writes a prescription. Side effects include unfeeling callousness with a lack of empathy.
“I’m so glad that he appears to be doing well, that he has doctors who can give him experimental drugs that aren’t available to the masses,” Sedlacek said. “For the rest of us, who are trying to protect ourselves, that behavior is an embarrassment.”
COVID-19 has infected about 7.5 million Americans, leaving more than 210,000 dead and millions more unemployed, including Sedlacek. The U.S. has less than 5% of the globe’s population but more than 20% of the reported deaths.
More side effects at the link.
The Climates They Are a-Changing 0
At the Hartford Courant, Maxwell Warren warns that we have entered a new age.
Our intellect, technology, ambition and desire for a better life have propelled us forward with rapid changes. And for the last 70 years, our unsustainable lifestyle fed on increasingly greater amounts of fossil fuels.
Follow the link for more.
The Stock Market Is Not the Economy, “The Happiest Place on Earth” Dept. 0
The caller, a Disneyland “cast member,” calls to discuss Disneyland’s laying off 28,000 employees. The caller’s voice fades several times and the hosts have to ask him to repeat himself, but I think, even with the audio issues, his story is worth the few minutes of your time.
Twits on Twitter 0
Aside:
Many years ago, maybe a decade and a half or so, I heard one of the founders of Twitter interviewed on NPR about what a great contribution Twitter would make to our discourse.
Methinks he was, as my old boss would have said, in error.
QOTD 0
Kerry Greenwood:
“People,” sighed Jane. “I’ll never understand them.”
“They are not logical,” agreed Phryne.
Greenwood, Kerry, Murder and Mendelssohn (Scottscale, AZ: Poisoned Pen Press, 2014), p. 120
The Vacuous Cycle 0
I have avoided the “gee whiz here’s the latest” coverage of Donald Trump’s stay at Walter Reed, because there is, in my estimation, too much guessing and, without a doubt, too little openness truthfulness from the current federal administration (leading in turn to said “too much guessing”; it’s a vacuous cycle). To put it another way, I’m content to wait until tomorrow to see what today brought.
If you can’t tear yourself away from it, though, the Poynter Institute’s senior writer Tom Jones offers some guidance.
“The Rabbit Hole,” Reprise 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Joe Pierre continues his exploration of QAnon, specifically whether belief in it and its elements can be considered a delusion from a psychologist’s viewpoint (he argues that, even though it may be delusional, it is not a delusion in a psychological sense of a person “having delusions”).
Here’s a bit regarding one of his points, that true delusions generally cannot be spread to others (emphasis added):
In contrast, conspiracy theory beliefs are usually not about the believer. And the evidence to support them is often something someone else said. I don’t like the term “conspiracy theorist,” since most people who believe in conspiracy theories aren’t theorizing so much as they’re searching and finding information that’s “out there,” often on the internet. This search is highly influenced by confirmation bias, meaning that we tend to find and latch onto things that we’re looking for in the first place and that support our pre-existing intuitions.
The Internet of Things 0
“Smart home” (meaning one where every gadget has a network connection) is an oxymoron.
I can push my coffee maker’s “on” button all by my ownsome, thank you very much.
Via Bruce Schneier.
“Throw the Bums Out” 0
David Horn is somewhat disenchanted with today’s Republican Party. An excerpt:
Follow the link to find out what he really feels.