Cole's Notes - The Sunday Journalist

We’re Paying The Price For The Death Of Journalism Derek Hunter 3/15/2020 12:01:00 AM - Derek Hunter That journalism is dead has been a punchline for so long that we’ve forgotten how that fact has real world consequences. We’re now paying the price for the failure of that profession to hold itself to any semblance of standards. As worry and straight-up panic sweep large swaths of the country, causing irrational toilet paper hoarding and runs on canned goods, there is no outlet and no journalist worthy of trust when it comes to conveying truthful information to the public or to hold anyone in power accountable. Read the rest at Townhall permalink https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2020/03/15/were-paying-the-price-for-the-death-of-journalism-n2564967

https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/ ECONOMICS ,  MUST READS ,  POLITICS ,  TOP STORIES Published on  February 27, 2020 The Two Middle Classes written by  Joel Kotkin Politicians across the Western world like to speak fondly of the “middle class” as if it is one large constituency with common interests and aspirations. But, as Karl Marx observed, the middle class has always been divided by sources of wealth and worldview. Today, it is split into two distinct, and often opposing, middle classes. First there is the yeomanry or the traditional middle class, which consists of small business owners, minor landowners, craftspeople, and artisans, or what we would define historically as the bourgeoisie, or the old French Third Estate, deeply embedded in the private economy. The other middle class, now in ascendancy, is the clerisy , a group that makes its living largely in quasi-public institutions, notably universities, media, the non-profit world,...

"We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as dangerous." https://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2020/03/25/how-do-we-flatten-the-curve-on-panic-n2565739

RealClearPolitics - Articles – Erick Erickson The Press Corps' Sturm und Drang Mar 27, 2020, 4:32 AM If there is one thing we know for certain about the American press corps' interaction with President Donald Trump, it is that they presuppose him an unserious and very vain dolt. If anyone grabs too much of the spotlight or utters anything disloyal, the President throws them out the door. That is what so much of the press believes. In fact, I suspect some of you readers believe it, too. Certainly, some in the White House believe it. They have tried to exploit it by circulating rumors about various people riding too high in the saddle. The press has tried to drum up divisions between the... Coleman Cooper iPhone coleman.cooper@icloud.com

Sickness and Stoicism "There's nothing to stop you from enjoying the company of absent friends, as often as you like, too, and for as long as you like. This pleasure in their company...is one we enjoy the more when we're absent from one another…" Seneca Quillette – Roy Wayne Meredith III Sickness and Stoicism Apr 5, 2020 at 8:58 AM In less than three months, COVID-19 has changed from a peripheral concern, barely registering in presidential debates, to the greatest global crisis since World War II. We are living in extraordinary times, and there is scarcely an industry or country that has escaped the impact of the new virus. In the United States, the Federal Reserve estimates that the unemployment rate could briefly skyrocket to 32 percent —higher than anything the country experienced during the Great Depression. People have lost their livelihoods. Many others are scared about what is to come when they develop a fever or cough. Illness, financial hardship, and lone...

Long quote - Beware of the experts.   Remember this when the next politician, celebrity, entertainer, AUPE or CUPE or journalist "working from home" encourages some more sacrifice to stop Covid-19.  "We now see that shared sacrifice has its limits. The fact is that half of our citizens are being asked to bear the costs of "flattening the curve." The other half continue to get their pensions, social security and salaries. Would government workers be as quiet if they were furloughed in proportionate numbers to the layoffs in the private sector? Would some professors be demanding that colleges reopen if they weren't getting paid?" The Problem with Experts https://townhall.com/columnists/gilgutknecht/2020/04/05/the-problem-with-experts-n2566365