A Tune for the Times 0
Afterthought:
The truly sad thing about this is that we have political party willing to allow Donald Trump to appoint incompetent boobs; kidnap, imprison, and deport innocent persons; loot the federal treasury; immerse himself and his favorites in emoluments; and start wars, so long as it means that that political party remains in power.
By the Book, Reprise 0
Colin Marshall, writing at Open Culture, argues that we may be nearing the point of bringing to life a book by George Orwell. Unlike Mark Hermann, though, he doesn’t point to Animal Farm.
He argues that AI may help lead us into the world envisioned in 1984.
Republican Thought Police 0
Farron explains how the Trump maladministration is starting to come after persons who say things it doesn’t like, even when said things said are well within the bounds of legal free speech.
Read the news report that Farron discusses.
Reconcilable Differences? 0
At the Psychology Today website, Pamela B. Rutledge argues that dis coarse discourse is starting resemble the dynamics of a failing marriage. She notes that
- Character attacks, not policy debates, are now the primary mode of political communication.
- Contempt in public discourse trains people to see opponents as “others” who are less worthy and less human.
Methinks her article is well worth a read.
American Stasi 0
At NJ.com, Ted Sherman runs the numbers and concludes that they do not support ICE’s public statements for its crackdown on immigrants, whether they be illegal or legal. An excerpt:
Comparisons with previous years actually show the increasing numbers of apprehensions were due to more arrests of those who had not been convicted of any crime, the analysis showed.
Read the whole thing. Methinks it supports the claims of those who believer this is not primarily–or, for that matter, in any way–about criminal behavior, but is all about skin color and ethnicity.
(Slightly edited for clarity.)
Scamalot 0
At SFgate, Gillian Mohney,tells the story of the bear that wasn’t.
Recommended Viewing 0
The best way I can describe it is to say it’s sort of a Britinh Man from U.N.C.L.E.
You should be able to find it streaming somewhere.
Establishmentarians (Updated) 0
Alabama recently passed a law requiring the display of (one particular version of) the Ten Commandments in public schools.
At AL.com, PJ Schwartz, Rabbi of the century and a half old Temple B’nai Sholom in Huntsville, Alabama, cuts through the plethora of prevarications propagated to promote this practice. Here’s a tiny bit from his article (emphasis added):
Calling this law “historical” is not just inaccurate. It is a strategy—a way to give legal and cultural cover to something that would be far more obvious if it were named honestly: privilege of one particular Christian worldview in a public institution meant to serve everyone.
Addendum:
Here’s a discussion of the different versions of the Ten Commandments.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
He had a pocket full of politeness.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Via The Charlotte Observer, Lorraine Ali tries to make sense of Donald Trump’s “social” media posts the senseless. A snippet:
Unlike the fictional Kurtz or the real Churchill, Trump has no military experience. He avoided the Vietnam War draft with four student deferments and one medical deferment for bone spurs. An area where he is experienced? Baiting foes. Antagonizing enemies, genuine or imagined, is a Trump specialty, be it from the Oval Office, on the campaign trail, or in the before times, as a reality TV personality.
Clouds of Witless 0
Mary Trump marvels at the stupid.