Little girl and her furry friend going for a ride..🐶🐾👧😍 pic.twitter.com/0uOcpZh1V3
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) December 29, 2023
- Nan’s Notebook borrows a moral picture of Gaza: Who isn’t who.
- Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit suggests that, before we get righteous about Israel’s reaction to the savage Hamas attack of October 7, we remember our own post 9/11 invasions.
- News Corpse wonders about the newest impeachment charge floated by Republicans.
Key skepticism:
WTF? This charge boils down to the GOP asserting that Biden can be impeached for the high crime of talking to his son.
- tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors compares a current President and a once-upon-a-President, as both issue inspiring Christmas messages.
- Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged figured out what mr Trump wanted for Christmas.
Seems he didn’t get it:
- CalicoJack in The Psy of Life introduces research into Status Quo Bias, how it helps mr Trump, and why there is still considerable hope for 2024.
- Max’s Dad reviews Republican nods to mr Trump’s Third Reichy poisoning-the-blood comments about immigration.
- Actually, mr Trump is not anti-immigrant. He is only against some immigrants. If you are from the right racial/ethnic regions, you’re okay. He’s been telling us that explicitly for a long, long time:
Now, I say to myself, why aren’t we letting people in from Europe? I have many friends, many, many friends–and nobody wants to talk this, nobody wants to say it–but I have many friends from Europe. They want to come in. People I know. Tremendous people. Hard-working people. They can’t come in.
Donald Trump at CPAC, March 15, 2013
My grandparents came from Ukraine, so I suppose my mom’s side of the family might be relatively unpoisoned.
- The Palmer Report sees indications that Jack Smith’s case against mr Trump involves charges deeper and wider than previously thought.
- At The Moderate Voice, editor Joe Gandelman reviews the latest Nikki fumble, as she tries to think of what may have caused the Civil War, and rounds up internet reaction.
Key insight from a well known historian:Any chance the Civil War had something to do with slavery?
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) December 28, 2023
My thought:
- Dave Columbo takes a look at Nikki’s look at how the base might look at the Civil War: It doesn’t matter what’s true, it’s how it makes us feel.
- Frances Langum nominates for Good Guys of the Year the Tennessee Three.
After three adults and three little kids were gunned down in the Covenant School shooting, four legislators were criticized for joining protests on the house floor against gun violence. Of the four, the three Black legislators were expelled. The single White legislator was not. All three of the expelled won the special elections to replace them.
Frances also suggests a loser of the year. I invite readers to guess who, and why it’s Ron DeSantis.
- At The Onion, women explain why they refuse to date fans of Joe Rogan.
- Today’s Good Citizenship Award goes to
the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame:
- driftglass makes fun of conservative Bret Stephens and his periodic softball conversations with liberal Gail Collins at The New York Times.
Key impatience:
…Gail Collins is a poor match. Should Stephens opine that, say, it was Liberal swine that ruined Murrica and drove Real Murrica into the arms of Donald Trump, Collins would likely riposte with something like, “Ha ha ha! Agree to disagree, Bret! Let’s move on to…what do you think of the lovely fall foliage!”
Key fantasy:
That Gail Collins might dare to Remember Stuff Bret Stephens Actually Wrote.
And. y’know, ask him about it.
driftglass has possible samples.
- In Hackwhackers, we lost the great I.F. Stone decades ago, but we still have his insights about news media.
- Grandmother Rachel Powell is being treated unfairly for simply having dissenting political views.
We’ve already been tortured for 3 years. When you’re in prison you have to be there two months to even see your counselor. It’s taking some people 5 months to get a sentencing hearing now. We don’t need more government investigations. We need pardons so we can get our lives back.
— Rachel Powell 🎗️ (@Iamrachelpowell) December 21, 2023
Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson says maybe not:"Powell later used an ice axe and a battering ram to break through a different window and breach the Capitol at a different location, encouraging other rioters to enter the Capitol. After the riot, instead of remorse, Powell continued to call for political violence." https://t.co/5NfObyjEzL
— James Wigderson (@jwigderson) December 28, 2023
- Those of us who don’t pay that much attention may be reminded that Sam Altman was the guy who ran OpenAI, and who was in, then out, then in, and is now the guy who runs OpenAI
PZ Myers wonders what Altman does exactly and goes the Washington Post to find out.
It seems Mr. Altman has uncanny entrepreneurial energy and force of will.
Thank you, Washington Post.
- ‘What three points do communists and fascists disagree on?’
Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara takes on this absurdly precise question from Quora and answers with his usual abandon.
Michael shares with many extremists the inability to make ideological distinctions. Here he conflates both extremes with Socialism:
Communism is international socialism … Fascism is national socialism
And he makes the more common mistake of summarizing Communism as:
from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
In fact, even the earliest authors of Communist ideology, Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, explicitly rejected what they saw as bleeding heart Christianity.
In ascribing this according to his need theology to the faith I embrace, they were probably correct: In the Acts of the Apostles, early Christian communities were indeed organized as communes.
Marx made a point of changing the Christian formulation to a different value: to each according to his contribution.
Communists have always rejected the Christian concept of every individual having intrinsic, inalienable value, a concept shared by all mainstream religions, as well as most secularists.
The ideology instead defines human worth as dependent on productivity.
So, my traditional tight fisted conservative friends do have something in common with their harsh Communist brethren.
- Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger takes a look at contrasting plans to fix Social Security. Democrats want to fully fund the program by making contributions from more wealthy Americans at least equal to that of working people. Republicans will instead cut benefits.
- A federal program will provide $40 a month to feed poor kids while school is not in session. Disaffected and it Feels So Good takes us to Iowa, where funds from that program to feed hungry kids will be turned down because the governor is worried that hungry children may become obese.
- Scotties Playtime has the story from here in Missouri, along with the links and reactions, as a school board rescinds a previous resolution against racism and then abolishes Black history classes.
Key reminder to the Francis Howell School Board:
Racism = Bad
- We do hear, from time to time, the virtue of focusing on what you are for, rather than what you are against.
…focus on positivity and you’ll have better progress with people who disagree with you.
North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz has a problem with the positivity proposition: “It’s simply not true.”.
Key counter objective:
I want to specifically name the things I find unconscionable, the conduct that turns my stomach, the legislation I abhor, the cruelty I will not abide.
- Julian Sanchez seems skeptical about the just ended War on Christmas.
And what planet do you live on where you imagine “Merry Christmas” offends… anybody? https://t.co/4JnNxIPOB1
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) December 26, 2023
Yeah, no, of course they’re not. These delusional weirdos can’t wrap their heads around the idea of trying to be nice to people who maybe celebrate other holidays, so they turn it into some persecution fantasy where people must hate Christmas. It’s utterly nuts.
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) December 26, 2023
- Tommy Christopher says we can’t really understand Hanukkah unless we heard it as explained in the 80s by Henry Winkler.
- In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, Bruce joins the ranks of atheists who celebrated Christmas.
- @whiskeywhistle98 resorts to the power of prayer, in her own special way:
- In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson recounts the profound discouragement (is this hard struggle really worth it?) during the early part of the American Revolution.
- Professor Mike reviews a sad recurring statistical pattern of passion, marriage, and breakup.
- Vagabond Scholar has the annual Jon Swift Roundup, a summary of the best of the best blog posts chosen by fellow bloggers.
- Infidel753 posts 2023’s Best of Infidel. The list turns out to be really, really good.
- M. Bouffant at Web of Evil reacts with some skepticism to the Elon Musk plan of helping us lose weight by inserting his electrodes into our brains.
That’s the problem with the world: no trust.
- In Georgia minor leagues, The Savanna Bananas demonstrate that not every unorthodox pitch works:
- SilverAppleQueen is suffering with ill health, but is helped through it by her cats.
Best wishes for full recovery.
- Mark Waulberg (No, not Mark Wahlberg, the other Mark) brings us accomplished actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who has trouble talking about a commonly recognizable aquatic flightless bird:
what a beautiful soul you are, Burr – your post about your g-ma brought tears to my eyes… wishing you & yours the best for 2024
Happy New Year, Burr!
I’m glad to see your recovery has reached a point where you are able to produce a complete review as you did before. Congratulations. On to a better year!
Huzzah!
Jack
Burr, I’m so glad you’re recovered enough to put this post together, on top of glad for the post itself.