Blogfog
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Godwin’s Law 2026
“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Republicans, MAGA, or Trump approaches one.” Even earlier is the Reduction ad Hitlerum fallacy, a Leo Strauss creation from 1953. It’s a description of an attempt to counter an argument by claiming the same notion can be attributed to Hitler or Nazis. As Continue reading
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Cruel, Stupid, or Both?
The Affordable Care Act has now been around for 15 years. It’s a very complicated combination that accommodates greed, human rights, and pragmatism. The greed it accommodates comes from the demands of the wealthy and powerful health insurance industry, which now believes it’s entitled to profit from misery because…well, because. I’m using “human rights” as Continue reading
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Dithering
I’ve heard the name Ezra Klein, but I can’t say I ever read anything he wrote, and I definitely never listened to his podcast before. I’m not much of a podcast listener. But I did listen to his recent conversation with Te-Nehisi Coates. The occasion of their conversation was a disagreement. Klein had written something Continue reading
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Just sayin’…
Have you noticed that gun advocates almost always fall back on the claim that carrying guns makes society safer? They actually say this with a straight face. The US has more guns in the hands of more people than any other society. And US citizens are much more likely to be shot and killed than Continue reading
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I always wonder
There are an awful lot of people in the US who spout what they think is “traditional” religion (it really isn’t; what they mostly put forth is a 20th century invention) and seem to be able to convince big crowds to come listen to them talk (they talk a lot) and to donate money or Continue reading
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Passions, Products, and Utility
or: It’s Just a Phone The MacPsych blog has an interesting post about mobile phones, on the occasion of the latest Apple “event” introducing new iPhoniana. They say: “I have read lots of differing perspective online, from fanboy exclamations of ‘the best phone everrrrrr!’ through to the much more realistic ‘it’s just a fucking phone’. As time passes, Continue reading
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History continues
I had never heard of Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas before, but what’s going on there is yet another case of large scale immorality and incompetence. In this case by the regime of the orange baby, but it’s been going on a lot longer. In the linked article, Haines Eason asks: “Can you name Continue reading
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This pretty much sums it up
Amazing post on Reddit:“…whatever else there is to say, the most important thing about Donald Trump, the thing that is obvious from watching him speak for just 14 seconds, is that he is profoundly stupid. Whatever it is that he might be talking about or doing at any given moment, it’s clear that while he Continue reading
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There are some methods
(and then there’s the madness…) Most of the US, at least the part that gets reported in nearly any sort of media, seems to be baffled by the randomness and ignorance of the orange baby and its regime. The ongoing saga of the tariffs, for example, makes no effing sense. They’re “reciprocal” (they’re not); they’re Continue reading
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Hey here’s an idea
I realize that “ideas” and “thinking” are not features of the current regime in America — or should I say “Amerika” — but here’s one anyway. If trade deficits are such a crucial thing, maybe review an industry where we have a big trade surplus: education. Thousands of foreign students want to come here to Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.