- The Palmer Report brings background news from the Fox Network. Seems that, while Fox campaigns against any private or public vaccination or mask mandates they are demanding their own employees provide proof of vaccination or wear a mask at all times while at work.
- Tommy Christopher reports as President Biden’s White House Communications Director blasts some media outlets for disinformation about COVID vaccines, but has a bit of praise for Donald Trump.
- Dave Dubya looks at vaccination rates vs demographic data, and sees one identifiable group that engages in a deadly celebration of ignorance.
- Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit has a theory on why Mitch McConnell and a few other conservatives have, with varying degrees of unenthusiasm, begun to turn toward vaccinations.
- Frances Langum watches Joy Reid relaxing on set with Colbert. Reid is a Joy as she explains how conservatives connect the dots, joining bamboo shards, chicken poop, ballots, China, and Trump winning by a bazillion votes. “…those same people are saying ‘don’t get vaccinated.'”. Funny because it’s ridiculous. Tragic because it’s deadly.
- driftglass carefully listens to pundit advice. Seems we must empathize with Trumpsters by humoring their fragile belief systems with voting restrictions, and by gently coaxing them into abandoning deadly COVID vaccine fantasies. Then we must hope they will finally see reality before it is too late. driftglass isn’t buying it.
- NOJO seems to pretty much agree, taking aim at National Review’s review of just who is at fault for deadly decisions not to vaccinate. Turns out it’s us for being insufficiently respectful of their vaccine resistance. Damn liberals every damn time!!
- tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors is also skeptical of the gentle approach, or really any approach, to anti-vaxxers, suggesting instead a gentle, empathetic approach to the next of kin.
- News Corpse sees Jim Acosta of CNN channeling Sean Connery in The Untouchables as he believes a Trump outburst. In the face of open lawlessness, Acosta asks law enforcement, What are you prepared to do?.
- In Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson takes a look at the interplay between Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy on what might have become a bipartisan committee investigating the Jan 6 insurrection, which is to say the Trump lynch mob that invaded the Capitol looking for legislators to kill. McCarthy’s inept response, pulling away from any cooperation, ends up advertising Democrats as the only adults in Washington.
- Andy Borowitz summarizes the objections of Republicans who protest the committee to investigate the riot and the lack of rioters on the committee.
- Scotties Toy Box sees an additional bit of irony in the Republican position on the Jan 6 riot investigation.
- Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson finally finds something on which he agrees with conservative Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson:
- At The Moderate Voice, Dorian de Wind sees a reflection of American character in the rescue from Afghanistan of individuals and their families who could be marked for death for helping US personnel.
- Sometimes you hope something like this will come back to haunt. M. Bouffant at Web of Evil watches a Fox Network personality dismiss climate change. We’re strong, and besides, how bad can a little bit of weather get?.
- Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged sees biblical level climate tragedy and notes parallels with the occasional wisdom of ancient mythology. Icarus gives us warning, Daedalus gives us hope.
- Infidel753 looks to undercovered labor strikes in Kansas and Alabama and concludes that mainstream news outlets, including sites on the left, no longer report on real American struggles. Left leaning internet, he says, can and should do better.
- Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger points to success by Democrats that will cut child poverty by half. Not at all bad, he says, but not good enough.
- Another shooting experience. In Hackwhackers Ben Wexler can’t believe a baseball game happened right next to America’s national pastime.
Funny because it’s true.
Tragic because it’s too true.
- Sometimes exaggeration is funny because it’s close to not being exaggeration at all. Sarah Cooper gets the ID treatment from her favorite Karen – personal note: who decided to call them Karen? (apologies to every real Karen)
- Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara decides that those who point to “implicit racism” in American society are full of it. He reads about a court ruling ordering that a defendant be given a new trial because of implicit bias by prosecutors in attacking a juror. The prosecutor, says Michael, was unfair and real wrong, so race had to be incidental.
Therefore anyone who sees implicit racism anywhere is just full of it.
Or something.
- SilverAppleQueen publishes a few reactions to the notion that radical feminists are to blame for male violence. She includes mention of her personal experience.
- Imani Gandy reviews a new Texas law putting a $10,000 bounty on women suspected of having abortions. If you think your neighbor’s miscarriage might have been an abortion, turn her in for the reward.
Remember the good old days when we pointed out that, in theory, women could face criminal penalties? Reductio arguments went right past those who called themselves “pro-life”. We were dismissed as inventing creative straw arguments that would never occur. Besides, women were innocent victims. Religious activists only wanted to prosecute evil doctors.
We never thought of exaggerating to the point of describing a bounty on women!
- Cato Institute’s own Julian Sanchez takes a look at the p‑p‑paranoid sensationalism of Tucker Carlson, who thinks the National Security Agency has targeted him for professional extinction. If Tucker’s charges are true, Julian is unperturbed. Just find the culprits doing the unthinkable targeting and fire them. He suspects nothing improper or illegal is actually being done, which is a possibility he finds especially disturbing.
- North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz explains how to become an influencer. Step 1 seems to be recognizing you are already there!
- It isn’t just social media and right wing network sites. In MadMikesAmerica, Glenn Geist reacts to clickbait offered uncritically by mainstream media, and explores one instance of purchased space for lies appearing on CNN’s website: The appearance is contrived to seem like a link to a legitimate magazine, but is a provable falsehood.
- In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, onetime pastor, current atheist, Bruce receives an indignant email from one of my Christian brethren demanding to know, since it was his, Bruce’s, own decision to walk away from the faith why he can’t let evangelicals make their own decisions. Bruce answers.
- PZ Myers seems shocked and awed by one of the dumbest propaganda devices ever. The movie storyline involves a fictional skeptical journalist, borderline atheist, who decides to do a hit piece on Ken Ham’s great Ark-work in Kentucky. Her hostile rage eventually turns to awe at the vastness of God’s work and she becomes a religious convert. Good job there, Ken.
Come on, Professor Myers, where’s your sense of humor?
It’s an old device. Fifty something years ago an anti-war journalist, played by David Janssen, went to Vietnam to expose the monstrous violence propagated by US imperialism. But he encountered Green Beret John Wayne and became a pro-war enthusiast. The movie was The Green Berets, and was one of the better efforts of the comes-to-mock-and-stays-to-worship genre.
Sometimes it happens in a warped sort of way in real life.
In my existence, I’ve known perhaps five truly great men. My dad was three of them.
He once explained how the late conservative Christian bloviate Jerry Falwell had turned him around on homosexuality.
After listening to one of Falwell’s sermons on how sodomy went against God’s own creation of nature, my dad had gone from being mildly tolerant, favoring legalization and equal rights under law, to flat out wanting to become gay.
- The Onion brings us a slide show on shocking things that no one told us about childbirth. One was the presence of a famous sports announcer.
- @momwino98 shares the joy of parenthood:
@momwino98 I just want some peace and quiet..I’ll be peace….😂😂🤦🏼♀️…##tiktokmom ##foryourpage ##kids ##nobreak
- Finally the advice we need. Reductress tells us how to stay calm in stressful situations when you can’t stay calm in relaxing ones.
- Watch what you wash, I suppose. The Journal of Improbable Research links to a new tracking device developed by researchers hoping to monitor whether soap is properly used. It’s to be imbedded in the bars.
Geez. Does Bill Gates have to know everything?
- CalicoJack in The Psy of Life has been struggling with new computer technology and expressing himself in frequent expletives, yet still has managed to come up with an excellent series of links to worthwhile sites.
Okay, okay. This one included.
– Podcasts –