The Not Fake News Update, 29 May 2023

They’ve made a deal on the debt ceiling with nearly a week to spare, and citizens across a relieved nation breathe a sigh of heartfelt relief following the close of this artificial crisis. After all, it only happens because politicians of both parties want it to, so they can blame the massive overwhelming national debt on each other.

It’s important to remember that, during this time of hype and propaganda, real events have actually continued to happen, some of which were even slightly important. For some insight into these news items, read on!

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Blacksmiths, A.I., and Artists

My people were blacksmiths.

My grandfather’s forge was a working concern through the 1980s. His neighbors would bring him holed pots, and when he was finished they’d be better than new.

Granted, this wasn’t his job in the 1980s; he’d retired long since. He was a machinist, trained to repair bombers in the Second World War. He worked in the family garage, and later on construction equipment. And he kept and used hammer and anvil from time to time.

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Hyperbole Is Literally Deadly

Consider the following:

– People have the right to identify themselves as they see fit.
– Mislabeling groups of people is an effort to dehumanize them.
– Dehumanization is the first step toward legitimizing pogroms.
– Mass vilification is the second step.
– Ya know who mislabeled people in order to vilify and eliminate them? Nazis.
– Therefore, anyone who misapplies the label “Fascist” to their political enemies is a literal Nazi.

That last step is of course a logical fallacy; it’s employed here deliberately in order to illustrate that calling people fascists merely because one dislikes them is in point of fact the identical fallacy. Even if one applies it to only those with an authoritarian bent is dangerously inaccurate; Stalin and Mao were both absolute rulers, and each was about as far away from fascist as it’s possible to be and still lead a cult of personality.

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It’s Only A Matter Of Time

…and I can’t say it hasn’t happened. In fact, I rather think it may have.

Just over a year ago, I predicted a bloody spring. My premise was that we as a population produce a set percentage of people who go violently insane every year, and the crops from 2020 and 2021 had been festering under lockdown in their parent’s basements, just waiting for a new crowd to form so they could self-destruct in public as rampage shooters. Regrettably, that turned out to be the case, and it’s repeating again this spring.

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The Not Fake News Update, 13 April 2023

Today marks the birthday of Guy Fawkes, executed for having tried to blow up Parliament. Had he lived, he would be 453 years old.

A lot of other interesting things have happened recently, many while you were distracted by other things, some involving Donald Trump and other truly unimportant issues. Why you pay attention to trivia like that is beyond me. Then again, some people juggle geese; who am I to judge?

So without further ado, I present to you a list, not comprehensive, of a few things you may have missed since our most recent Update:

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Oh No Not Again

Happy Indictment Day!

Only not.

Sure, “Teflon Don” got marched into court, had to get fingerprinted, and is facing full public disclosure of his hush money payments. It’s embarrassing. On the other hand, nothing he’s accused of has ever garnered more than a fine, not in any case I’ve ever seen. (NOTE: I’m not a lawyer.) The action itself — paying hush money — wasn’t illegal, or even immoral, and every campaign after Eisenhower has had a damage control unit.

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The Not Fake News Update, 15 March 2023

Beware the Ides of March, and also the Nones and Kalends while you’re at it. Mind you, technically speaking, the Ides of March would have referred to the first full moon of spring, which is due on the 6th of April, but that’s hardly important.

Speaking of unimportant things, your headlines have been full of them as usual. While you’ve been distracted, here are a few items of importance you might have missed:

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