Cole's Notes - The Sunday Journalist

Annus horribilis Annus horribilis is a Latin phrase, meaning "horrible year". It is complementary to annus mirabilis, which means "wonderful year". As usual, this cartoon nails it. My year has been like this. Stuck in March of 2020 under lockdown due to hygiene socialism. The year 2020 was when all levels of government, politicians, media, academics, companies and social media went insane. Future historians will shake their heads at the madness that came from the fall of Journalism. It has been replaced with the dumpster fire of the "Woke revolution" sensitivity and the Cancel Culture of the Internet Mob.  The loss of credibility of all levels of government and mainstream media and the outright suppression of opposing viewpoints have been the hallmarks of this past Annus Horribilis. On the plus side - I finally got the first flu shot on May 4 - and now I’m scheduled for the second on August 4 - yeah.  I probably get a bunch of anti-vaxxers calling me an id...

Perhaps - it's time to get going again..

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