Today was Pride Day in NYC, and for the first time in two years, the march was packed with participants... people were confident to step out during this weird, not-quite-fraught stage of the pandemic, and more cogently, people wanted to show defiance in the face of the Supreme Court's bad rulings. NYC Pride actually kicked off with Planned Parenthood, which released a statement:
"Pride was born of protest and will always be a space to fight injustice
and discrimination. Join us as we advocate for bodily autonomy at this
year's NYC Pride March."
I've long said that intersectionality is the key to fighting for human rights-any attempts to compartmentalize human rights issues can lead to balkanization, which makes divide-and-conquer easy. In particular, reactionaries have a talent for using fear and misunderstanding of marginalized groups as a Trojan horse to revive culture wars that people assumed they had already lost. This year, their campaign against transpersons was a pretty transparent attempt to roll back LGB rights as well.
Reactionary authoritarians have been pretty upfront about wanting to roll back many matters considered settled law. Not content with overturning Roe vs Wade, Clarence Thomas has stated that he would like to overturn Griswold vs Connecticut, which grants married couples the right to contraception, Lawrence vs Texas, which grants individuals the right to engage in certain sexual acts (sodomy), and Obergefell vs Hodges, which grants the right to same-sex marriage. Like the Terminator from the movie, he will not stop, ever, until the rights of non-fundamentalist Christian men are dead.
It's heartening to see that the organizers of Pride teamed up with pro-abortion rights activists. They know that any attack on bodily autonomy will negatively impact them. It's going to be a long summer of rage, at least it kicked off with a party.
The American Right has won their greatest victory against civil society in fifty years, but the rank-and-file don't seem happy about it. Their backlash against protests was predicted by the FBI, and it has materialized:
This is a picture of the truck that hit two women as they crossed the street during a peaceful pro-abortion protest in cedar rapids, Iowa. pic.twitter.com/DZIqpMQlpA
At least a multi-pronged approach to fighting for abortion rights is coalescing, with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exhorting young pro-abortion rights activists to be 'sand in the gears':
Speaking outside the Supreme Court, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told protesters that "right now, elections are not enough" to reclaim abortion rights in America "we have to fill the streets." pic.twitter.com/dgfKo8FQFR
Personally, I believe that a coordinated boycott of all things Red State is in order, and a general strike, followed by an extended 'buy nothing essential' period. Hit the reactionaries in the wallets, where it hurts. In the meantime, an executive order rescinding Trump's expansion of tax cuts for politically active churches should be enacted immediately.
It's going to be a slog, but we didn't choose this war. We'd damn well better win it, though.
It's finally happened, the six reactionary religious fanatics of he Supreme Court have overturned Roe vs Wade, which almost two-thirds of Americans support. It's the most egregious example of minoritarian rule- six individuals lording it over 64% of the populace. Republican states have already put 'trigger laws' into effect, laws which will ban abortions as soon as Roe has gone the way of the dodo. If you had asked me ten years ago, I probably would have opined that I suspected that Republican opposition to abortion was merely a culture war issue to rile up the base and get them to the polls, but that was before the GOP gained a critical mass of authoritarian fundamentalists on the Supreme Court. I was disabused of this notion before the 2016 election.
Thankfully, states such as New York and New Jersey are adopting safe haven policies for red state girls and women seeking abortions. Of course, without organizations such as the Brigid Alliance, which help patients in need seek abortion care, this is only helpful to girls or women who have the ability to travel. Abortion bans only effect poor women, the daughters and mistresses of Republican senators can always go on 'spa vacations' to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
To compound the danger, the GOP Supreme Court won't be content to abolish legal abortions, Clarence Thomas has already announced that he will try to overturn legal birth control, same-sex marriage, and even sex acts that deviate from heterosexual vaginal penetration with the penis:
Justice Thomas calls on SCOUS to overrule Griswold (right to contraception); Lawrence (invalidating anti-sodomy laws); Obergefell (marriage equality) pic.twitter.com/xOXEwbfL24
I don't exactly know how this will all end up, these unpopular policies are being supplemented by voter suppression policies, so even overwhelming numbers at the polls might not be sufficient to move the needle in Republican-ruled states. In the short term, I would suggest boycotting Red States, and the products they make, all the while pressuring corporations to push back against this War on Women. I also support a general strike, in which non-essential abortion supporters (if you are in a state that bans abortion, I'd even skip essential work) refuse to work, or even to purchase non-essential items.
The Republican war on bodily autonomy and privacy has been ramped up considerably, it's time we start fighting back in earnest.
People think about secrets every day. In a typical day, a typical person speaks or writes seventeen thousand words, the equivalent of forty-eight pages, double-spaced. About 30% of these words are used to disclose personal experience. About 18% of the words are small talk. About 3% of the words are saying nice things about people, and about 5% are saying not-so-nice things about people.
Secrecy is common, it is all around us. Dr Slepian cited secrets such as Coca-Cola's formula, the NSA, and Scientology. Secrecy is an intention to keep some piece of information unknown by one or more people. Dr Slepian asked, "What is it like to keep a secret?" Secrets are a burden, they can be draining, they can form a gulf between ourselves and others.
Secrets feel heavy- perception and behavior are scaled to the costs of acting on our environment- more resources are used, the world is more challenging to interact with. In one survey, participants were asked to estimate the slope of a hill- individuals keeping a big secret judged the hill to be steeper than individuals without big secrets did.
About ten percent of the subjects in one survey were preoccupied with infidelity. This can actually make tasks such as carrying groceries or walking the dog more difficult. Thinking about secrets makes one feel more burdened. Dr Slepian said that he would have stopped studying secrecy, but another researcher failed to replicate his work, so he had to continue.
Whether one sees a secret as big or small is not as important as how preoccupying a secret is. Big secrets are not always preoccupying, people learn to live with them. The burden of secrecy is less about what the secret is, and more about how often the secret is on one's mind.
As an example of a secret, Dr Slepian brought up infidelity. Among Americans, 30% of respondents have been unfaithful to a partner (not necessarily a current partner) at one time, the figure worldwide is about 20%. If individual A is in a long term monogamous relationship with B, and has a one-night stand while on a business trip, A has a secret at the moment A decides not to inform B. Even when B is not present, this secret will be a burden.
There are different ways to keep secrets, such as concealment, dodging the question. This is a small slice of the secrecy experience. Secrecy can result in mind-wandering, unresolved goals, and a failure to seize opportunities to take actions to solve problems. It's not necessary to actively hold back secrets, they can spontaneously come to mind.
In one study, respondents were asked to categorize experiences, and asked to list the ones they kept secret:
A typical respondent kept 13 secrets at a time. We keep the same kind of secrets. People think of their secrets far more than they conceal them. Secrets cause people's minds to wander more often than non-secrets. This matters for well-being. Frequently. concealing secrets doesn't harm individuals as much as preoccupation with secrets does. The stereotype of concealing a secret being harmful does not occur often... most secrets never come up in communication. People are ready for the moments in which they will conceal a secret, but not for the mind-wandering and preoccupation.
Dr Slepian noted that more data sets were required to gauge the harm of keeping secrets, and he displayed several diagrams concerning various dimensions of secrets and the harm they cause:
How do secrets hurt? In a recent JPSP, we find there are three dimensions to our secrets: 1. morality, 2. relationship-oriented, 3. goal-oriented. Each dimension has a unique harm (shame, isolation, uncertainty) and each offers an avenue for intervention https://t.co/BCqDlZLmohpic.twitter.com/Z6rOoolxdg
Each dimension of secrets has a degree of harm, such as causing bad moods or shame. Secrets can make us feel ashamed, feel isolated, and feel uncertainty. The paradox of secrets is that concealment is not usually harmful, but thinking about a secret is.
Can people think about secrets in better ways? While people can prepare to conceal secrets, can they prepare to think about them? Confiding secrets to a third party can help- it doesn't reduce concealment, but it does reduce mind-wandering. A small glimmer of hope can have a big effect- confiding leads to people feeling more capable. People tend to choose the right people to confide in, compassionate, assertive people. Would a confidant be burdened by a secret? It's best to choose someone slightly removed from the situation, someone whose morals are aligned and won't be scandalized (and prone to reveal a secret as a punishment). For confiding to backfire, it has to fail spectacularly. It takes a really negative response to make people second guess revealing secrets.
The lecture was followed by a Q&A session. The opening question, from some Bastard in the audience, involved cultural/religious factors in keeping or revealing secrets. Dr Slepian immediately picked up on the subtext about the sacrament of confession in the Roman Catholic church. He noted that, in comparing cross-cultural differences, it is useful to keep in mind how collectivist or individualistic a society is. In collectivist cultures, there is an inauthenticity to keeping secrets- it breaks norms, there is a greater expectation of revealing in order to keep order. That being said, in certain societies in which marriages are arranged, divorce is not an option, and social networks are small, there are more secrets. In societies in which you find a partner on your own, it's easier to leave on your own.
Another question involved the positivity or negativity of a secret, what's the difference between keeping a birthday party secret and keeping an affair secret? Positive secrets feel good because the point of concealment is to make the big reveal more exciting. Such secrets make us feel in control, and add to well-being.
Are there secrets we should never reveal? What harm would result from revelation? If you want to reveal something to make yourself feel better, you should nevertheless consider the harm revelation would do to others. Dr Slepian cited Dan Savage's "one time secret" model, but noted that repeat offenses aren't covered... ask yourself what your partner would want. Even with a one-time lapse, 77% of respondents stated that they would want to know. Dr Slepian also noted that there's no reason to figure this out on your own- seek a second opinion. There's no reason to be alone with your secret.
In one study of HIV positive men in the 1990s, men who concealed their sexual orientation had worse health outcomes and died sooner than men who were open about it.
Asked about methodology, and the candor of respondents, Dr Slepian noted that, in internet surveys, the level of detail is shocking, people want to talk about their secrets.
What differences are there between children and adults when it comes to keeping secrets? Children will deny even when there is evidence to the contrary (cooking crumbs on their shirts), they don't have other strategies. Adolescents are better at holding back secrets, which can cause problems
Regarding neurodivergent individuals, there is not enough data.
Journaling might be useful, as long as it isn't rehashing the past or merely chronicling a harmful record. Dr Slepian mentioned PostSecret as an anonymous way to write a secret down and anonymously reveal it.
Some secrets just 'time out', they simply lapse.
What's the utility of secrecy? A world without secrets would be less functional. Secrets protect the feelings of others. The optimal level of secrecy is not zero.
Regarding the difference between guilt and shame, guilt is "I did a bad thing", shame is "I am a bad person".
Once again, the Secret Science Club has dished out a fantastic lecture. Kudos to Dr Slepian, Dorian and Margaret, and the staff of the beautiful Bell House. High fives all around. For a taste of the Secret Science Club experience, check out this video with the good doctor:
Pour yourself a nice beverage and soak in that SCIENCE!!!
POSTSCRIPT: After the lecture, I joked with Dr Slepian that he should go into a Catholic church and participate in confession, just to experience the process of revealing a secret anonymously to a complete stranger. I told him that he could find movie scenes depicting the sacrament so he could do it in the traditional fashion. He joked that he would need a 'wingman'.
I'm headed down to the Gowanus section of Brooklyn this afternoon for this month's Secret Science Club lecture. It's nice to have this particular routine back in my life, the ritual of taking the subway from the end of the line in the Bronx to downtown Brooklyn. In this year's trips, I've been walking from the Atlantic Avenue subway station to the beautiful Bell House, which I've been doing since the shooting on the R Train, my usual transfer from the 4 Train. Luckily, there's a really good Middle Eastern bakery along the way.
It's comforting to be able to return to this important part of my life after two years, and even better to see my Brooklyn friends, who are actually from the entire NYC metro area. Being able to recap it for you folks is the icing on the cake.
Longtime readers will be happy to know that my beloved Ginger has returned to work. She's still cone-laden, but my coworker who took her home for her convalescence left town for a couple of days, so he brought her back, though she is under 'house arrest' for two or three more days, when the vet will evaluate her and, most likely, remove the cone.
Ginger is like the kid who had the accident late in the school year, and has to spend summer vacation in a cast. Here she is, begging to be let out, which is a no-no under her current circumstances:
Right now, she is confined to the building which houses the employee break room (she also has the run of an activity room and the building's spacious basement). The cone definitely cramps her style, though- it impedes the catlike grace which is supposed to be her birthright.
It's nice to have Ginger back, but it's a shame that we can't have any adventures together onsite. Hopefully, by the weekend, we'll be on the scout around the grounds, without cones or stitches to cramp Ginger's style.
One of the important functions of social media is creating interpersonal connections. I'm new to the whole mainstream social media thing, but I did have a nice exchange on Twitter with Jeremiah Prophet, a Dallas-based journalist with cerebral palsy. Jay writes entertainingly about a variety of topics, such as writing political advocacy for Beto O'Rourke as early as 2019. His tale of having his computer hacked reads like a scary little techno thriller, with the details of the features he needs to operate his computer adding a terrifying angle to the story... it's as educational as it is gripping.
Give Jay a read, his is an important voice, and an entertaining one.
I figured that I would post about Juneteenth on the actual day, even though it being a federal holiday, it can be celebrated on Monday, 6/20. I've been posting about Juneteenth for over a decade, because I had the great good fortune of working with an East Texas gal, a history buff, who had grown up celebrating the holiday with her family. Workplace diversity is a strength, dear readers, and having a friend group from many backgrounds just makes you smarter.
Unlike, say, Memorial Day, which seems like it should be more somber, Juneteenth being a party day is appropriate- the holiday celebrates the actualization of what Independence Day promises, the prospect of actual implementation of the Declaration of Independence's lofty prose. I can't think of a better way to celebrate than a cookout (after reflection on the holiday's meaning)... it being a cornerstone of African-American culture. The foods typical of American summer celebrations are rooted in African-American foodways, as historian, chef, and activist Michael Twitty has so ably documented.
Have a happy Juneteenth, and think of it as a supplement to the Fourth of July. Sure, racism is still a problem, and there is a vicious backlash against teaching about the true role of race in these here United States, but this is an occasion to celebrate gains that were made. The fight can be resumed tomorrow, must be resumed tomorrow.
Last week, there was a bit of a pop music controversy revolving around the use of an ableist slur by all-around good girl Lizzo. In her new release, Lizzo used the word 'spazz', which is extremely offensive in the United Kingdom, a slur against persons with cerebral palsy. Lizzo, whose oeuvre embraces inclusion and body positivity, issued an apology to the disabled community and rereleased the song with different lyrics, with the offending term excised. Thankfully, she was forgiven, because she's way too fine to be this stressed.
In Lizzo's defense, the word in question is is not nearly as offensive in the USA, where it is typically used to denote simple clumsiness, often in a self-deprecating fashion. The situation is pretty much the flipside of the use of the C-word, a show-stopper in the US, but not that big of a deal in the UK, as all-too-many English web commenters will tell you. It's to Lizzo's credit that she took the concerns of disability advocates seriously, embraced this learning experience, and made the necessary change. Intersectionality is important, and Lizzo executed it well.
It's often said that the US and the UK are two countries divided by a common language. I'd say that we are two countries united by Lizzo.
It's that time of year, another successful completion of a lap around the sun... I'm of the opinion that birthdays should be multi-day affairs, and accordingly, started celebrating last night with the bar trivia crew. Oddly enough, tonight, the very night, will be the most low-key night. I'm writing this at work, and don't have any real plans for the night. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting friends for dinner and a couple of seasonally appropriate gin-and-tonics (while Chick Drink Summer is ongoing, I feel it unfair to order complicated cocktails while at a busy bar). The festivities will continue into next week, as I coordinate with some June Baby friends... one friend asked me, "What do you have in mind?" My answer: "A return to a semblance of normality."
When my mom called me this morning, she jokingly asked if I felt any different. I can't say I do, but it's nice to be able to feel like I have a birthday again after two years of Nothing Much Going On.
What a difference a year and a half makes... back in Fall 2020, I pilfered requisitioned a box of sidewalk chalk from the art supplies of the children's activity center of one of our sites so I could draw social distancing marks on the pavement outside of my principal workplace, a polling site, for the November 2020 elections. Knowing that it would be a big day, with many voters coming to the site, I prepped the place in advance, marking out six foot intervals and opening up a side door to maintain an one-way flow of foot traffic. Those were the fraught days, before the vaccine rollout... they were politically fraught days too.
This year, we are reintroducing events that had been canceled during the height of the pandemic, beginning with a family-friendly event which is to take place next month. Not having a need for the box of chalk at my principal workplace, I will be repatriating the sidewalk chalk... back to its proper place in the children's activity center art supply.
The chalk served me well. It served the public well. I was able to draw cheerful rainbow social distance markers to enhance the safety of the local voters. Now, it's time for our young attendees to use the chalk. I have no doubt that it will serve them well.
It's been a strange two years, it's nice to feel that some return to normality is taking place.
It's damning footage, the images of Georgia representative Barry Loudermilk leading a tour of individuals (who later ended up storming the Capitol) through the various Congressional office buildings and the Capitol itself:
This video shows one of the guests on Loudermilk’s inside Jan. 5 tour ominously name-checking Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler and AOC on Jan. 6 and chortling with a fellow Trumpie about using a weaponized American flag against “somebody special.” @January6thCmte is seeking more info. https://t.co/NUlQTmMa84
The optics aren't so good, especially the scenes of these creeps taking photographs of security checkpoints and stairways... not exactly tourist stuff. The video from the following day, in which one of these monsters shows off a spear improvised from a flagpole, while calling for Nancy Pelosi's scalp, only drives home the horror:
Surveillance footage shows a tour led by Loudermilk to areas in the House Office Buildings, as well as the entrances to Capitol tunnels.
Individuals on the tour photographed/recorded areas not typically of interest to tourists: hallways, staircases and security checkpoints. pic.twitter.com/Rjhf2BTdbc
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 15, 2022
This certainly looks like sedition to me, and Loudermilk should be dragged off in cuffs and leg irons for his role in the insurrection... it sure looks to me as if he enabled a reconnaissance of the vicinity in advance of the attack, an attack which probably would have proved fatal for Democratic lawmakers.
Thank goodness he was providing intelligence to people of little intelligence.
A couple of months ago, so right-wing nincompoop asked me, "How is Brandon working out for you?" I responded that I was doing well, that the high gas prices (still much lower in the US than in the rest of the world) weren't affecting me that much because I drive a small car, live in a region with top-notch public transportation, and dwell in a neighborhood in which I can conduct the vast majority of my errands (and recreational activities) on foot. I made fun of MAGAs for driving oversized pickup trucks with immaculate beds because they were invested in performative masculinity to cover their insecurities.
I have to note that I am still doing well in the Biden Economy, well enough that I was able to indulge in some crass consumerism... I actually bought a good camera, the sort of camera one buys when one wants to learn the rudiments of serious photography. Here is a picture of the camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR (say that ten times fast), taken with my cell phone camera:
My primary reason for purchasing this camera is the presence this year of some really spectacular birds at my various worksites. I figured I owed it to them, to my readers, and to myself to take better photographs of them, and the other fauna and flora onsite.
Right now, I am learning how to use the camera as a camera, and hope to learn how to use the camera as a data storage/transfer device in the coming days. Hopefully, I'll have some good photos by week's end. In the meantime, one of my coworkers (the all-around Good Guy who takes care of Ginger when she's on medical leave) is very knowledgeable about photography, and told me to ask him for advice anytime. Another coworker told me that she had a similar camera sitting in her office, and needed to practice how to use it effectively. I joked to them both that we should form a workplace camera club.
There are few people on this planet worst than the UK's Prince Andrew, serial sex pest and all-around disgusting person. I have to note that one of his exes is pretty bad as well... a certain Lady Victoria Hervey a paranoid gun nut who totes a gun around Los Angeles because she is terrified of the proles committing crimes against her. In a particularly disgusting bit, this member of the UK nobility has a warning about proposed post-Uvalde gun control measures:
Lady Victoria said the Texas shooting was 'terrible' but claimed taking the right away [to carry guns] 'could be disastrous'.
She controversially claimed: 'It could lead to mass genocide if the government was to go to war against its people.'
Given the fact that right-wingers in the US have tried to spark a new satanic panic, featuring LGBTQ Americans (transpersons in particular) as the current scapegoats, researchers monitoring the far right have warned that Pride events could be under attack this year.
Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post wrote an in-depth article on far-right efforts to turn Idaho into a fascist fiefdom, also appearing on the QAnon Anonymous Podcast to discuss this issue. Put succinctly, Idaho has a serious neo-Nazi problem, but I have no doubt that other Pride events in smaller cities nestled in the bosom of Trumpland could also face potential attackers. Fascists disrupted a Pride event in Dallas last weekend. Here in the NYC metro area, there is a critical mass of LGBTQ individuals and their allies that I'm not overly concerned about Pride events here, though such attacks certainly occur even in the most gay-friendly neighborhoods.
It's depressing, this Culture War which once seemed won by tolerant people, has been jolted back to life, pushed by righty media giants as well as neo-Nazi edgelords. I don't believe the regressives will win, but I'm sick of the fact that these 'last gasps' never seem to be the end of the bullshit. Stay safe, people, protect each other, and defy these assholes with every fiber of your being.
The Biden administration still manages to surprise me in pleasant ways, such as the proposed creation of a marine sanctuary in the Hudson Canyon, an underwater trench approximately 100 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of New York City. The Hudson Canyon originated as the former mouth of the Hudson River, carved out by erosion during the Ice Age, when ocean levels were lower than the present levels.
The video from NOAA concerning this announcement is gorgeous:
A few years back, I attended a special presentation at Yonkers' own Hudson River Museum which celebrated the Hudson River, including a topographic representation of the New York Bight, including the Hudson Canyon. The Hudson Canyon also came up in a couple of Secret Science Club lectures, one by Columbia University's Dr Vicki Ferrini about mapping the ocean floor, and one by Dr Mercer Brugler of CUNY's City Tech about using submersibles to explore the ocean depths. It's gratifying to see the Biden Administration moving to protect this region, so close to the metro area I love so much, and the interesting, diverse residents of this suburban neighborhood.
Yesterday, I received a phone call from an old friend, a guy I'd gone to high school with. He's a hapless sort... every friend group seems to have one of these, but generally well meaning. He called me to tell me that the CVS chain of drugstores was administering COVID vaccine booster shots. Readers of mine will recall that I had already gotten my COVID booster on Monday. Like I said, he's generally well meaning.
In the course of our conversation, he decided to give me some career advice, even though he's been unemployed for four years. THANKS, BUD! Although he's never heard me complain about work or money in all the years he's known me (I had a big mop of curly blond hair when we met back in MUMBLEMUMBLE), he told me that he thinks that I would get higher pay and a better benefits package if I took a job at the Yonkers Raceway Casino. Please note that he has no idea what my pay and benefits are like. I noted his concern, and told him that I preferred working in a position which gives me a lot of outdoor time in the fresh air, observing the flora and fauna, and (when she's not out on sick leave with a cone) playing with a delightful cat (Ginger should be out for another week-and-a-half) than working in a windowless building, probably in a dark room watching camera monitors for the subtle hints that someone is tampering with a slot machine.
Of course, he's not the sort of person who ever takes advice himself- for instance, a mutual friend told him to pare back his resume to one page, and even offered to edit it, but he declined her offer because he thinks that someone in a Human Resources department cares about his high school extracurriculars. Yeah, he's smarter than everybody around him, as is evidenced by the sound decisions he has made throughout his life. Every friend group seems to have one of these guys.
As an aside, the pandemic was the best thing that ever happened to this guy- he was just about to lose his last unemployment extension when COVID hit, and he was able to receive a pandemic-related continuation of his unemployment benefits.
This morning, the DJ on the local commercial music station made an offhand comment about having to use the split-screen feature on his television to watch the Rangers playing in the NHL conference finals and the 1/6 hearings simultaneously. Me? I'm taking a night off for bar trivia (it's my weekly ritual with good friends, well, ONE weekly ritual with good friends, along with a weekly online game night). I figure that I can catch up later, no matter how important it is... we'll be dealing with the aftermath of 1/6 for years to come.
The importance of the hearings into 1/6 can be gauged by the responses that even 'polite' Republicans have to it- via Tengrain, we have the oleaginous David Brooks:
Using the events of Jan. 6 as campaign fodder is small-minded and likely
to be ineffective. If you think you can find the magic moment that will
finally discredit Donald Trump in the eyes of the electorate, you
haven’t been paying attention over the last six years. Sorry, boomers,
but this is not the Watergate scandal in which we need an investigation
to find out who said what to whom in the Oval Office. The horrors of
Jan. 6 were out in public. The shocking truth of it was what we all saw
that day and what we’ve learned about the raw violence since.
Yes, David, the horrors of
Jan. 6 were out in public, but the networks that put those horrors into motion were not out in public, and that's what the hearings are about. The big players who funded the insurrection and transported the perpetrators are still out there, still in positions of power. Damn right, the events of Jan. 6 are campaign fodder. Hell, the campaigns of politicians who participated in the insurrection in any way should be suspended, and the roles of those politicians cannot be ascertained without the hearings.
I'm sure it will be riveting television, but a ritual is a ritual, so I will have to watch it in reruns. At any rate, I think I deserve a night off.
The team compiled data from more than 3,000 U.S. counties in all 50
states and found mortality rates decreased by 22% in Democratic counties
but dropped only 11% in Republican counties, according to the study
published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal.
This gap is apparent across a wide range of pathologies, medical and social:
Mortality rates in Democratic counties dropped
from 850 deaths per 100,000 people to 664, but in Republican counties,
mortality rates declined from 867 to 771. The mortality gap widened
across leading causes of death in the U.S. including heart disease,
cancer, drug overdoses and suicide.
Democratic
counties also saw greater reductions in deaths from chronic lower
respiratory tract diseases, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, and
kidney disease.
The driver of this mortality gap is a disparity between health incomes for white Democrats and white Republicans, with health outcomes being better for white Democrats. Black and Hispanic Americans tend to have worse health outcomes than white Americans, but their death rates are falling more rapidly than those of white Republicans.
The Affordable Healthcare Act, aka Obamacare, played a role in the decreasing mortality rate in Democratic leaning counties, but personal choice also plays a role. Democrats are more likely to engage in healthy habits, such as receiving vaccinations, exercising (we love our bike lanes), and eating well (unlike Republicans, we don't think that eating vegetables is 'gay' and don't see hamburgers as a lifestyle).
As a progressive, I really want to see an improvement in longevity and quality of life for all Americans, but if Conservatives insist on remaining in a death cult that is killing them, can't they speed things up in time for the November midterms?
Via Tengrain, we have a Fox segment about the travails of living under California's environmental regulations which actually reveals the complete culinary ineptitude of the Fox entertainers:
My favorite bit is the bullshit about the '45 minute fried egg'. That sounds more like a sacrifice to a volcano god.
Now, a real pro doesn't even need a stove to cook, but then again, this fine fellow was a true-blue liberal:
Fox cooking segments tend to be disastrous, because of the stupidity of the individuals involved. I'm reminded of those old Ronco commercials, which made routine tasks look fraught with angst, peril even. My favorite Fox cooking segment involved Diamond and Silk making a 'no sugar added' banana pudding, with hilarity ensuing:
I'm sure you all see the flaw in that technically true 'no sugar added' claim... I also love their distinction between 'Nilla Wafers and vanilla wafers, though that's not as stupid as a forty-five minute fried egg.
This afternoon, I received my second COVID booster shot. I had been planning to get it before mid-June, and a workplace mandate merely moved the date up a week or so for me. Since the big government-run vaccination sites have closed, I went to a local CVS store for the inoculation.
This not being a big COVID injection site, while registering for the booster, I was given the option to receive an additional vaccine. I chose the initial shingles shot. My brother Vincenzo had the shingles and declared it the worst pain he'd experienced in his life. A coworker who had it said that he was bedridden for two days, his body alternately feeling like it was on fire or it was being stabbed with multiple pins,,, with a barely endurable constant itching as a background bad feeling. Shingles shot, please!!!
The pharmacist at CVS. a consummate pro, gave me the COVID jab in the left arm, and the shingles shot in the right arm. She told me that I might experience redness and swelling around the shingles injection site, and instructed me to drink plenty of fluids. She told me that I should come back in two months for the second shingles shot. Four hours after receiving both shots, I feel fine, though after running some brief errands, I plan on being home for the duration, drinking water and generally loafing around. Yeah, what a way to spend one's day off! At least it's a nice afternoon for sitting in the back yard, counting my blessings for having a high tolerance for injections.
Post title a paraphrase of the title of this post-punk classic:
I think I'll pump my fists a bit... I've heard tell that arm movements help distribute the fluid from the injection sites, lessening the incidence and duration of injection site soreness.
This year, a new minor character joined the cast of this blog, a handsome young fellow with a mysterious past. I'm talking about Deer 58, a young stag wearing a radio collar and a pair of ear tags bearing the number which serves as his name. He's relatively tame, and settled into his role on my worksite with aplomb. He was later joined by Dear 57, another stag which is much more skittish, not nearly as amenable to being photographed.
Yesterday, my coworker learned about the mysterious past of Deer 58 (and Deer 57). While he was working the afternoon shift, he spotted two young men in our overflow parking area, standing next to a car bearing a sign for White Buffalo Inc, a wildlife management company. Two young men, perhaps not so different from 57 and 58, were standing next to the vehicle, searching for something. That something, my coworker was told, was the radio collar used to track 57 and 58, and thirty other deer in the region. The radio collars have small charges installed, which blow the collars off when a particular study has finished. Deer 57 and 58 were now free of their collars, though they still bore the ear tags, which sometimes fall off and sometimes don't.
The White Buffalo employees were looking for one of the collars, they get paid a bonus for every collar they retrieve. My coworker joked about getting a cut if he found the collar before they did... In the course of their conversation, my coworker learned that 57 and our friend 58 tended to move from our site to a nearby park- they favor the park in the winter because of the many oak trees on the premises, which provide a bounty of tasty acorns which help tide the deer over in the lean season. They move to our site in more clement weather in order to take advantage of our varied ecological niches- meadow, forest, and marsh.
White Buffalo is also conducting a similar deer survey on Long Island, and will compare and contrast the data from the two locales. Here's where I note that our sizable campus is near a broad swathe of green space, and the deer even wander into downtown areas such as the pretty village of Tarrytown (it's a good town).
It's my sincere hope that Deer 58 won't be subject to a cull, or the like. He makes for a charming presence on the property, and I kinda look at him as a coworker. If he's calm and contentedly hanging out on site, it probably means that no unauthorized persons are skulking about. As far as I'm concerned, he's on the payroll, albeit on a more informal basis than myself or Ginger. I'd like to see him having the run of the place, a free deer.
I'm a 'better dead than crimson' kind of guy, and every so often my contempt for that institution is vindicated, and I'm not even prepared to go into the really egregious stuff today. Right now, I'm just talking about a guy who is supposed to be a right-wing intellectual, whose main claim to fame is 'destroying' college libs with 'facts and logic', but whose actual debate tactic is a Gish Gallop. Yeah, I'm talking about Republican wunderkind Ben Shapiro, who has some thoughts about school shootings:
He even invokes his vaunted 'logic' in his bizarre rant, though he sounds deranged, especially when he says that he's 'unaware of any situation in which the threat of a good guy with a gun has not ended a situation with a bad guy with a gun '. Ben is notably ignorant, or perhaps wants to bury the existence of that right-wing terrorist altogether.
Ben is supposed to be one of the 'smart ones', but he's deranged- what kind of loon would think that broaching this topic is a smart rhetorical move? Ben's an idiot, but that's been apparent for years. Like I said, I'm a 'better dead than crimson' kind of guy, and practically every day proves me right.
Today will be a busy day. My baby brother, Gomez, and his family will be in Northern New Jersey because my niece is playing in a hockey tournament all weekend. She's a whiz on the ice, as well as being an academic powerhouse. Her dad played hockey in high school, and currently plays in an adult league, as well as working part-time as a referee.
I have to work, but will be able to meet them after the first game for dinner. I haven't seen them since before the pandemic started, since they came to visit NYC in Summer 2019. We had a blast back then, and I'm sure tonight will be a lot of fun... I just have to look up places to dine in the greater Wayne, New Jersey vicinity. The only business I know of in Wayne is the now-closed lawn ornament place these guys took their name from:
Jersey being the Land of Diners, I'm sure I'll find a spot pretty easily.
It's been a rough week for my coworker Ginger, who in an eerie repeat of last year, got herself a problem with swelling of the pinna of her ear (the other ear this time). The swelling didn't go down, so Ginger once again has been coned. She looks like a punk rocker with her head half shaved:
Like last year, Ginger will be spending the next few weeks at a manager's house because she shouldn't be outside with her ear like that. As I noted, it's a weird case of déjà vu all over again. The real bummer this year is that we are open to the public, so Ginger won't be able to strut her stuff in front of an adoring audience. She's like the kid whose arm breaks just before school ends, who has to spend the entire summer vacation in a cast, watching the other kids splash around in the pool. She'll be getting TLC, no doubt, but it would be better for her to be gallivanting around the grounds, playing in the sunshine.
Today, I commemorate the birthday of my super sarcastic sister, nerd extraordinaire and bestower of nicknames (she was the one who dubbed my older brother Sweetums and my youngest brother Gomez, both 'nyms which have stuck). She is currently in the process of settling in back in Northern Virginia, where she'd lived for a long stint, after a two year stint in the SF Bay area, which she didn't enjoy... she's too much of a curmudgeonly Yankee to really like California. It's also nice that she'll be living a half hour's drive from Mom.
I texted back and forth with her a bit. She and the family are doing well- the youngest is enrolled in Tae Kwon Do classes, and her middle child is working crazy hours during his summer break. Her oldest is in LA with the Space Force, the perfect situation for the son of two literal rocket scientists. Besides the hectic nature of moving cross-country, things are going well.
