From Pine View Farm

The Fee Hand of the Market 0

Capitalism works best when left alone.  Examples:  Three Mile Island, Love Canal, Housing Bubble, Asian Sweatshops, AIG, Ford Pinto

Via Bartcop.

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Susie Sampson Has a Wonder 0

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Perspective 0

I find this story disturbing, then I start to wonder, suppose it had been an 18-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl . . . .

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“Best Health Care in the World” 1

For the first time in San Jose and just the third time in the state, the California Dental Association operated a free dental clinic to anyone willing to wait, marshaling more than 1,700 volunteers — including 800 dentists, hygienists and lab assistants.

More than 2,000 people, many traveling by BART and bus from the East Bay and beyond, waited for hours on end. Some arrived as

Their swollen jaws, painful grimaces and reluctant smiles gave them away.

“I’ve been in line since 5 a.m., and I’m not leaving,” said Carrie Flores, 49, of San Jose, who was hoping a dentist inside the cavernous tent building behind the San Jose McEnery Convention Center would extract two or three of her back teeth and maybe save another. She’s been in so much pain she can’t sleep or eat any solid food.

Also, pigs, wings.

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Tumblr Is a Very Strange Internet Place 4

But the end is clearly nigh.

After all, the potential buyer is the company that spent millions to convince the public to use a brand name to mean “web search.”

And now the public does a brand name to mean “web search.”

Finish reading this post »

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QOTD 0

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

If you board the wrong train, it’s no use running along the corridor in the other direction.

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Trump Cards 0

Really, now . . . .

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Traditional Marriage, Life on the Streets:

An-as-yet unidentified 32-year-old man was shot to death in Greenwich Village on Friday night by a suspect who “made anti-gay remarks” before pulling the trigger.

Follow the link for more traditional values in NYC.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

The triumph of politeness.

Image:  Gun nut surrounded by weapons and

An excerpt from the accompanying article:

Overlooked in this debate (gun control–ed.) is a very important element in the Constitution, namely Article I, Section 8, paragraph 16.

That paragraph grants to Congress the express power to provide for authorizing and funding state militias, whose officers are appointed by the respective states. It seems clear that these militias envisioned by the Constitution are presently the state national guards.

In a twist, instead of Congress funding militias, we have militants funding Congresspersons.

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It Must Be Spring 0

The ice cream trucks are in bloom, soon to be followed by UPS knees.

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“Freedom of Religion” /= “Freedom for Religionists” 0

Let Joel Connelly explain at SeattlePI. A snippet:

Last week, after Minnesota became the 12th state to say that people of the same gender can wed, Minnesota’s Council of Catholic Bishops described the new law as “a serious threat to the religious liberty and conscience of Minnesotans.”

While doubtless poll-tested, the language is Aesopian. The “liberty” and “freedom” being defended is the right to deny freedoms to other Americans, and to refuse goods and services to a defined class of citizens.

As well, the language heard now, directed at gay and lesbian Americans, has been heard in the not-too-distant past — and even the present — to justify discrimination against African-Americans, women, Jews, Muslims . . . heck, even the Irish.

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“Please Release Me, Let Me Go” 0

There’s birdies out there . . . .

Cat peering through screen to outdoors.

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Who’s Stupid(er) Now? 1

It is indeed possible for both sides to be wrong.

Mr. Principal Zero Tolerance, please meet Mr. Teen Bad Timing.

Answer to the title below the fold.

Finish reading this post »

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QOTD 0

Friedrich Schiller:

Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain.

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Dustbiters 0

I missed it when it happened, because such things usually go down on Friday, so the mess can be cleaned up over the weekend, but yet another bank disappeared, this one on Tuesday:

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Designer Pattern of Misconduct 0

Der Spiegel interviews a garment worker who survived the building collapse in Bangladesh, that is, one of the persons who makes the clothes you wear for the brands you trust.

A nugget:

Personally, I have no expectations for the future. What should we workers hope for? Everything depends on the whims of the factory owners. For example, it only takes a little bit of rain before there’s mud and water half a meter high. How often did we tell the managers they had to do something? We arrive at work soaking wet and get sick. They promised us they would take care of it. But of course nothing changed.

Read it; see the fee hand of the market at work.

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“That Conversation about Race” 0

You know, the one white folks don’t want?

It ain’t happening in Martinsville either.

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School for Scamdal 0

Mike reports on the efforts of corporations to steal privatize our public schools.

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The Secesh 0

Here. Nothing to add.

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“Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!” 4

Reg Henry counsels caution. A nugget:

In this week of scandal, in which the conservative outrage meters have been howling about administration actions (or inactions), those of us who do not get our aerobic exercise by jumping to conclusions are forced to reconsider our cautious reserve.

This reserve is justified by the experience of recent years. During the Clinton administration, those crying wolf were in full throat over the Whitewater scandal, which wasted much time, cost millions of dollars to investigate and left the Clintons sitting pretty.

(snip)

And so it goes. From the moment President Barack Obama was inaugurated, the hate machine was cranked up. This happened with the last occupant of the White House, too, but that was a Model T hate machine compared with the super-duper, industrial-strength lie mixer rolled out for Mr. Obama. No other president in memory has had to fend off claims that he was not actually an American — and that was just for starters.

If you look at the facts on the supposed scandal, there’s really not much there there.

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