Monthly Archives: September 2019

NEWS FEED MONDAY: “It, Chapter 2” is Horror-ible Pop Culture Rot

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 9, 2019
  • 3 min read

Throughout the crawling duration of It Chapter Two — all two hours and 50 minutes of it — I felt like I was being taken for a ride by a driver who was wearing a blindfold. This movie is so meandering, so stuffed with easily excisable scenes whose revelations wick off with the arrival of the next fit-for-the-cutting-room-floor vignette, it’s as though everyone made this all up as they went along. [snip]

— Jezebel, September 6, 2019
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If It Doesn’t Work, Keep Doing It!

Rob Meyne

  • Sept. 9, 2019
  • 3 min read

When I was young (and we were still trying to shake off the reins of British rule), people used to make jokes about government doing things efficiently. There was common acceptance that, however poorly a business or charitable organization might operate something, you could always count on the government to do worse.

There are precisely zero major tasks that government in general does better than, well, anyone else. Government remains the province of $10,000 toilet seats, zombie-like bureaucrats, and billions of unaccounted for tax dollars. Yet, about half the nation seems to have somnambulated into America circa 2019 with a new paradigm that government is where you go to save money. It’s as sensible as if people suddenly decided to go to Kansas for surfing lessons, to Robert Byrd for lessons on black empowerment, or Rosie O’Donnell for weight loss tips.
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NEWS FEED SUNDAY: Mick Jagger’s Trump Slam is Irony on Steroids

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 8, 2019
  • 1 min read

Venice (AFP) – Rock legend Mick Jagger attacked US President Donald Trump for his rudeness and lies Saturday and for “tearing apart” environment controls when America should be setting the standard for the world.

— AFP, September 7, 2019

QUICK TAKE

Rock icon, Mick Jagger, just ripped President Trump as an all-around cad. Per Mick, Trump isn’t only ill-mannered but trampling the environment. Mick didn’t quote Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Beto O’Rourke that the world is going end in a dozen years (AOC) or a decade (Beto). Sounding environmental alarms without running through the streets shouting that the end is near is downright negligent.
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NEWS FEED SATURDAY: Buttigieg Twists Faith to Rationalize Abortion

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 7, 2019
  • 2 min read

Evidently, the mayor [Pete Buttigieg] has decided that it’s to his advantage to embrace the radical, unpopular position of his party, advocating that a pregnant woman alone should have control over whether the unborn human being inside her is permitted to continue living, even after the point when it is able to survive outside the womb. He should at least have the decency not to twist Scripture in defense of his abhorrent decision, and to cease lecturing us about his superior understanding of Christian morality while he’s at it.

— National Review, September 6, 2019
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NEWS FEED FRIDAY: Will SF Supervisors NRA Resolution Endanger Lives?

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 6, 2019
  • 2 min read

National Democrats in Congress and on the presidential campaign field have dodged questions of whether they agree with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ decision to declare the National Rifle Association (NRA) a “domestic terrorist organization.”

— Breitbart, September 6, 2019

QUICK TAKE

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”
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NEWS FEED THURSDAY: Buttigieg: “Manmade” Climate Change is Another WWII

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 5, 2019
  • 2 min read

“We have to actually unify the country around this project. And that means bringing people to the table who haven’t felt that they’ve been part of the process. I mean, this is the hardest thing we will have done certainly in my lifetime,” he said. “This is on par with winning World War II, perhaps even more challenging than that.”

— The Hill, September 4, 2019
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Should Facts Interfere With Our Understanding of the Truth?

Rob Meyne

  • Sept. 5, 2019
  • 3 min read

There is an old joke about the three biggest lies: two can live as cheaply as one, check’s in the mail, and… well, the third, the punchline, isn’t appropriate for polite company. But the point resonates: there are many dominant beliefs today, as throughout history, that simply aren’t true.
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NEWS FEED WEDNESDAY: Walmart Goes Soft on Guns

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 4, 2019
  • 2 min read

Walmart stepped forcefully into the national gun debate on Tuesday, saying it would stop selling ammunition that can be used in military-style assault rifles, would discourage its customers from openly carrying guns in its stores and would call on Congress to increase background checks and consider a new assault rifle ban.

— New York Times, September 4, 2019
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Is Your Trope More Tired Than Mine?

Rob Meyne

  • Sept. 3, 2019
  • 4 min read

As I write this, I am less than five miles from the site of the largest mass murder in U. S. history. No one needs to tell Las Vegans mass shootings are a problem. Regardless of where you live, if you don’t understand the devastating impact of these incidents, you frankly don’t deserve to be taken seriously.
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NEWS FEED TUESDAY: The Reasons for Nadler’s Impeachment Obsession

Old foes

J Robert Smith

  • Sept. 3, 2019
  • 2 min read

House lawmakers will return to the Capitol from a lengthy summer vacation to find that they are already in the midst of an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

They have taken no vote on the matter, but Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, has repeatedly told federal judges in recent weeks that it’s exactly what he is doing as he investigates Mr. Trump’s behavior toward Russia and suspected efforts to thwart FBI and special counsel investigations.

— Washington Times, September 2, 2019
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