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- Yeah, in a Minute... is the personal dumping grounds of Paul Landry:
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- "Paul" / "he–him–his"
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News Gathering vs. Confirmation Bias
- Remember, if you do not have at least one source of news that you turn to regularly, with which you routinely disagree, then you are not practicing news gathering! You are practicing [confirmation bias].
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Science
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[S]cience is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.
— Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (New York: Ballantine Books, 1996) at p.32.
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[S]cience is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
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More Recent Entries
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Author Archives: Paul
The Day the Music Died +61 years
As a huge Buddy Holly fan since I was a kid, I try to mark The Day the Music Died, in one way or another, just about every year. And while I often link to the excellent Wikipedia article, this year I’ve searched and found some other interesting articles, including this one at Biography.com, as […]
Amanda Gorman: The Hill We Climb
Amanda Gorman, a 22-year-old poet, recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inauguration: When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade We’ve braved the belly of the beast We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace And […]
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Sworn in as 46th President of the United States
“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over… Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men.” — President Gerald R. Ford, remarks after taking the presidential oath, 9 August 1974. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has taken the oath of office and has been sworn in as […]
Holler: There’s a name for that
This. Much, much more of this: There’s a name for private businesses deciding they no longer want any part of what Trump and his enablers/flock are doing — it’s called “capitalism” — y’know, that thing they say they love so much? — The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 12, 2021
Rather: The hypocrisy of the Trump thuggery
The hypocrisy of the Trump thuggery can be epitomized by a seditious rioter beating a police officer at the Capitol with an American flag. It was never about the flag, or “blue lives matter.” These were mere props in a movement fueled by power, injustice, and racism. — Dan Rather (@DanRather) January 12, 2021 A […]
The High Cost of Trump
The Wall Street Journal editorial board: [Donald Trump] has cost Republicans the House, the White House, and now the Senate. Worse, he has betrayed his loyal supporters by lying to them about the election and the ability of Congress and Mr. Pence to overturn it. Truth be told, that’s just the tip of the fucking […]
Just found my next read
Andrew L. Seidel, The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American, Sterling, 2019. Trump’s dictatorial tendencies and mendacity, negative attributes for many voters, poised him perfectly to manipulate the evangelical mind. Like the biblical god evangelicals worship, Trump is a thin-skinned authoritarian with totalitarian tendencies. He craves love and punishes any disloyalty or slight. Evangelicals […]
Photos Show Difference in How Police Responded to Anti-Racism Protests and the Siege at the U.S. Capitol
The linked article is good and CBS’s photos of the attempted coup d’état at the U.S. Capitol yesterday by Trump-supporting domestic terrorists are telling, but I personally prefer this from The Recount: In case you can’t tell — and please, watch the linked video — the photo on the left shows a police officer in […]
An Attempted American Coup
Make no mistake about it: what we witnessed tonight was an attempted coup d’état. Call me old-fashioned but when armed insurgents storm the U.S. Capitol at the behest of the recently defeated, but as of yet still seated U.S. President, for the stated purpose of reversing the nation’s lawful election results, I call that what […]
Chappelle on Saving America from Itself
Recently rewatched some Dave Chappelle standup. Dave Chappelle, Sticks and Stones (2019) at 40:39: I’ve given this a lot of thought. I don’t see any peaceful way to disarm America’s whites. There’s only one thing that’s gonna save this country from itself – the same thing that always saves this country from itself. And that […]
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