And so begins our Season of Remorse

Taibbi: Blame Media for Creating World Dumb Enough for Trump - Rolling Stone

This presidency has become the ultimate ratings bonanza. Trump couldn't do better numbers if he jumped off Mount Kilimanjaro carrying a Kardashian.

http://rol.st/2xl3xie

Every time the press goes on a tear about something, what follows is a season of self-reflection and remorse, an orgy of tut-tutting by the punditocracy. This serves, I suspect, as a sort of self-declared vacation during which no one really needs to think too much for a month or so, by which time another Great Cause will have arisen and off we'll go again. 

Taibbi's piece here is an excellent start to this round and definitely bears reading.

Pretty nifty of rationalization

A Trump supporter was sucker-punched by a counterprotester. Why isn't it a hate crime?
The Washington Post

Richard Losey, 20, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery with a hate crime enhancement. But California prosecutors later dropped the hate crime charge. Read the full story

Shared from Apple News

Walmart is now selling pricey organic avocado toast | New York Post

Now you're sorry.

https://moneyish.com/ish/walmarts-new-organic-restaurant-will-have-acai-bowls-and-avocado-toast/

Imagine our surprise

Facebook 'friends' aren't real, judge says - NY Daily News

The 10-page ruling established that not all Facebook "friends" are people with whom members have close relationships, the Miami Herald reported.

http://nydn.us/2w3x2GI

Looks like we have some catching up to do

Ukraine has removed all 1,320 statues of Lenin | The Independent

http://ind.pn/2w2ZcSt

And speaking of which… oh, never mind

American-Indian boy banned from school for having long hair | New York Post

Schools Superintendent Greg Poole said Oates has the right to take her child elsewhere.

http://nyp.st/2xgvNT9

Now there's a red line in the sand you betcha

Girl Scouts have had enough of the Boy Scouts | New York Post

 "It is entirely dishonest to claim to be a single gender organization while simultaneously endeavoring upon a co-ed model."

http://nyp.st/2xgx6BK

Those Girl Scouts, they've been goody-goody all too long. And the boys, I don't even know where to start with them – although the image of a single-gender organization does begin to fade.

Wait, I thought it was the Russians

How Conservatives Manipulated the Mainstream Media to Give Us President Trump

Now i'm really confused

"Holistically" is not a word I'm likely to use, but that aside

The Internet's "Nazi Purge" Shows Who Really Controls Our Online Speech

I'm not so worried about companies censoring Nazis, but I am worried about the implications it has for everyone else. I'm worried about the unelected bros of Silicon Valley being the judge and jury, and thinking that mere censorship solves the problem. I'm worried that, just like Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince woke up one morning and decided he'd had enough of the Daily Stormer, some other CEO might wake up and do the same for Black Lives Matter or antifa. I'm worried that we're not thinking about this problem holistically.

http://bzfd.it/2x9R9BL

This piece from Buzzfeed News (another doesn't-happen-very-often) raises a serious question about the internet, the First Amendment, the meaning of life and the holistically hypeability of the Great American Solar Eclipse, namely. who runs the internet and why and what are we going to do about it.

EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which styles itself the ACLU of the internet, published a piece the other day making many of the same points as Buzzfeed's, while ProPublica seems to take the opposite view in this article called Despite Disavowals, Leading Tech Companies Help Extremist Sites Monetize Hate.

You can name your poison here: I tend to favor EFF's formulation although First Amendment wonks insist it only applies to government censorship and not fooling around by Twitter (still network neutrality suggests all information should be handled the same way). But the Southern Poverty Law Center invoked by ProPublica is highly respected on this issue. 

The bottom line is this, IMO: We should spend less energy screeching at each other about things that happened in the past and start paying more serious attention to how things are gonna be. Because gonna-be is where we'll all end up.

Finally some good news (from the Onion)

Study: 0% Of People Die From Getting Fingers Lodged In Bowling Ball And Being Dragged Down Lane

http://bit.ly/2vVtAOs

(So if you're looking for a sport…)

Apparently the big payoff is a picture of…

…dark. And I thought I was easily amused.

So far, it's more fun watching traffic than the sun. Maybe it will be better when it turns up on Netflix.

And score one for China

China newspaper claims US Navy is 'hazard' in Asian waters
Fox News

A Chinese newspaper on Monday castigated the U.S. Navy for being more of a "dangerous obstacle" than a protective force while sailing through Asia-Pacific waters -- the written rebuke coming as the Navy chief ordered a wide investigation of the Pacific Fleet following two recent collisions that left at least seven sailors dead. Read the full story

Shared from Apple News

Oregon traffic

Eclipse traffic: Very slow going on I-5 SB into Salem

http://www.kgw.com/news/eclipse/eclipse-traffic-already-hits-central-oregon/464948514

Do not be fooled

Eclipse comes complete with myths and superstitions | Times News Online

In ancient times, native people in Colombia shouted to the heavens, promising to work hard and mend their ways. 

http://bit.ly/2x66JhF

Obviously you can't work in the dark so you get an extra four minutes off today.

And now the Eclipsalypse

Live updates: Monday Oregon solar eclipse 2017 traffic reports, travel times | OregonLive.com

The Wheeler County Sheriff's Office has closed Burnt Ranch Road, the access road to the Painted Hills Viewing Area near Mitchell, because of traffic backing up onto U.S. 26, the Oregon Department of Transportation said. 

http://bit.ly/2vSbnBo

A final word to the wise from LIFE: “Don’t forget to come out for fresh air.”

Photos: 1960s School Kids Preparing to Safely Watch Solar Eclipse | Time.com

http://time.com/3737424/solar-eclipse/

Don't forget, this all happened in Illinois.

Tankers 2; Navy 0

USS John S. McCain arrives in Singapore with ‘significant damage’ | New York Post

"The collision east of Singapore between the guided-missile destroyer and the 183-meter (600-foot) Alnic MC was the second involving a ship from the Navy’s 7th fleet in the Pacific in two months."

Does anybody know how to work this newfangled radar thing?

Up for it

Little Makanda bracing for hordes of eclipse-watchers

"Ever since NASA announced that Makanda is the place to be, we've seen an increase in visitors," said Jeremy Schumacher, an employee for Makanda Eclipse, headquartered in the Eclipse Café. 

http://bit.ly/2x5fJn0