But I suppose it’ll do for now. Source
Author: Claire
… we are having a discussion about this season’s flu and how to fight it. If you’ve been following the news, you know that the current common strain is a nasty one — and that this year’s vaccine is a miss. The vac is only 19% effective, at best, and by some counts only 10%. I also know we have quite a few around here, including several retired or current medical people, who wouldn’t get a flu vaccine if it were billed as 97% effective. (Partly because the vaccines have such a history of being surrounded by misinformation and propaganda.)…
How’s that for a blog title? Sounds like one of those avant garde 1960s plays, doesn’t it? (The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade — that sort of thing.) Actually, it’s the plain, mundane, and muddy fact of the day. Just now, I was sitting in the bedroom-to-be, sipping a cup of sweet tea, kicking back in a bentwood rocker (maybe I should add that to the title), inspecting/admiring/critiquing the wall I taped and plastered this morning. And it occurred to me…
Probably not quite this bad. OTOH, these people had an unusually good day, when you consider the possible alternative.
Okay, I know Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, John Chancellor, Peter Jennings and their lot were all just shills. They made their living presenting one carefully selected part of the Establishment line. Their living was based equally on ensuring that We the Peasants didn’t hear about anything that might cause us to lose faith in Our Glorious Leaders in media and politics. We’re much, much better off now that we can get our news unfiltered. Or filtered through the sensibilities of … well, anybody with a YouTube or Twitter account. Aren’t we? Yes, we are, I remind myself. But at least…
Continue reading“Were they actually thinking that a ballistic missile might sort of land on Hawaii?”
As the media lets Trump manipulate it into a frenzy once again, I have a challenge for the terminally self-righteous: Name me just 10 countries in Africa … okay, seven … no, just aim for five to make it easy … that you consider to be as educated, prosperous, technologically sophisticated, opportunity-driven, stable, and well-governed as (oh, just for instance) Norway. And while you’re at it, NPR, maybe you can quit broadcasting long segments on how earnestly you debated — searching heart, soul, conscience, and all the laws of human decency — before using the term sh*thole on the air.…