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Pinback

Pinback's Journal
Pinback's Journal
March 28, 2018

Trump's New Lawyer: Harvey Richards, Lawyer for Children!


The date says Jan. 2017, but it was actually posted January of this year. At any rate, it's more relevant today than ever. Ruben Bolling is a genius.
March 19, 2018

10 Women With Cameras We're Inspired by Every Day

10 Women With Cameras We’re Inspired by Every Day

Disclaimer: This is from the education section of a commercial site (Adorama), but worth a look.
Today, on International Women’s Day, and every day, we’re inspired by the women photographers, videographers, and creators who are changing the game. And here at Adorama, we’ve had the chance to hear their stories.
More at link: https://www.adorama.com/alc/women-with-cameras-were-inspired-by-every-day

This site has posted great photographs by ten contemporary women photographers, with links to more information about each. For example, Emmy-nominated director Lauren Meyer, who's currently in post-production for her documentary The Other Boys of Summer, about Negro League baseball players and the civil rights struggle in the United States as they experienced it.

March 14, 2018

This Peter Thiel associate is

trying to amplify generational divisions. Why, I wonder?

A key cornerstone of the Libertarian project is to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, both age-related social insurance programs and shining examples of Democratic Party achievement.

If younger Americans can be convinced that everyone of age to receive those benefits is a selfish freeloader, then they'll gladly take part in dismantling them.

And if older Americans can be convinced that they don't need to worry, because their benefits will be protected while they're snatched from younger generations, the Koch Brothers and their kindred vultures are happy.

That's why I'm fighting against this narrative. It's complete bullshit. Please delete this OP.

I'm fighting to save Social Security and Medicare, for my children, my nieces and nephews, and their children -- and all Americans in their generations.

Need I point out how ridiculous it is for this rich-guy venture capitalist to call me a sociopath, because of my birth year? Give me a fucking break.

Trashing thread. Not recommending.

February 15, 2018

No Way To Prevent This, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

Time for this AGAIN, alas:
https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1823016659

PARKLAND, FL—In the hours following a violent rampage in Florida in which a lone attacker killed 17 individuals and seriously injured over a dozen others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place. “This was a terrible tragedy, but sometimes these things just happen and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them,” said Indiana resident Harold Turner, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half of the world’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the past 50 years and whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations. “It’s a shame, but what can we do? There really wasn’t anything that was going to keep this individual from snapping and killing a lot of people if that’s what they really wanted.” At press time, residents of the only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past eight years were referring to themselves and their situation as “helpless.”
January 15, 2018

My visceral reaction is to decry "compassionate conservatism"

as an oxymoronic concept.

Your thoughtful analysis helps me understand (thought not appreciate) the mindset that makes such a position appealing.

Emphasizing points of agreement (such as "Productive work is a societal good that should be encouraged" ) is a good start toward building consensus among parties that are arrayed across the political spectrum.

I could never support the GOP's goal of government-sponsored faith-based initiatives -- and I certainly don't subscribe to the right wing idea that beneficiaries of social programs are by definition slackers.

In a different area, there is -- for example -- a lot of potential for agreement among hunters & fishermen and environmentalists. Their interests are compatible in many ways. We need to focus on those points of agreement rather than excoriating hunters as "animal killers" or letting them paint us as "granola-eating tree huggers."

Full disclosure: I actually am a granola-eating tree hugger, but you get the idea. My granddaddy was a hunter and an environmentalist. There are more out there -- we need to find them and work with them.

These are discussions that we'll continue to have, and the answers may (and most likely will) be different in various states and districts. We need to inspire progressives to devote their energies to the cause, while not losing reasonable moderates who agree with us on some policies but not all.

Centrists lose me when they say "To hell with 'Leftists'" and focus only on how to attract and appease conservatives. Leftists lose me when they say "There's no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats."

Your post offers some insight about how to sift through these ideas and positions and find ways to win without resorting to either scorched-earth tactics or appeasement.

January 13, 2018

Great music from countries we're supposed to despise and fear

"Adouma" by Angelique Kidjo from Benin:



January 8, 2018

Not to mention you could actually learn something about the music.

The average Spotify listener generally has no idea who the band members are on the tracks they're listening to. I learned a lot about music and musicians' work by reading liner notes and personnel listings on LP covers, particular in the jazz realm.

I'd see the list of band members and think, "Oh, Ben Riley! He played with Monk -- this might be good." Or "Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder? I'm in!" Or I'd read an essay by Nat Hentoff or Ralph Gleason or Orrin Keepnews and learn something about the artists or the music -- often standing in a record store, where this new knowledge would send me to a different bin in search of new treasures to take home.

Same for rock music. And some helpful artists would even include lyrics for those of us unable to decipher words mumbled in a fake (or sometimes authentic) Southern accent.

And then, of course, there's the issue of rolling joints -- without the LP cover of Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die or Coltrane's A Love Supreme, who can craft a tight, seedless doobie anymore?


And the artwork! LPs allowed a fantastic flourishing of album cover art that is hard to match in a cramped CD booklet (or Spotify / Pandora interface).










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Hometown: GA
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Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 12,171
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