Tag: Fox News

BOOK REVIEW: Juan Williams’ history of civil rights sacrifices and gains proves he knows better

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There is still some hesitancy among mainstream media outlets and other civility-compulsives about whether Donald Trump is actually a racist or—out of a cynical appreciation for the expediency of racism—merely someone who talks like one; has acted like one throughout the entirety of his public and professional life; has surrounded himself with bigots from his butler to his administrative staff; and supports racist policies including ethnic cleansing.

This is a distinction without a difference. Sen. Elizabeth Warren got some pushback on the Left for saying something similar.

“Is the president racist?” CNN’s Manu Raju asked her. Continue reading “BOOK REVIEW: Juan Williams’ history of civil rights sacrifices and gains proves he knows better” →

BOOK REVIEW: Sasha Abramsky’s ‘Jumping At Shadows’ is important but covers little new ground

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Reggie Watts’ 2012 TED Talk had many unique observations, but one has always stuck with me as particularly insightful.

“As we face fear in these times—and fear is all around us—we also have anti-fear. The background radiation is simply too static to be able to be seen under the normal spectral analysis.”

That line of satirical pseudo-babble was part of an improvised comedy/musical performance but has achieved a surprising resonance in years since, and it’s as concise a summary of journalist Sasha Abramsky’s latest book Jumping At Shadows as the one it gives itself. Continue reading “BOOK REVIEW: Sasha Abramsky’s ‘Jumping At Shadows’ is important but covers little new ground” →

You know, ‘plethora’ actually means ‘too much,’ not ‘a lot’

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Because I didn’t know that until someone told me to look it up. It has nothing to do with anything, but some people only read headlines, and I wanted to share.

So I was talking to a friend the other day, and he was complaining about the lack of clarity of the current Iraq War compared to ’91’s Desert Storm. The point he brought up was that the footage we’re shown now is of such worse quality than the previous one, even though more than a decade has passed and technology has obviously improved.

“Everything I see now is this pixelated digital garbage from people’s cell phones,” he said. “What happened to people filming stuff of quality with quality instead of garbled nonsense?”

Continue reading “You know, ‘plethora’ actually means ‘too much,’ not ‘a lot’” →