I'm just throwing this out there, hoping for some feedback on the matter of identity politics. I just ordered and await delivery of a book just recently published entitled Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. Here's more-or-less a synopsis of the book:
Americans celebrating Thanksgiving by spreading disease is actually an incredibly accurate way to honor the holiday.
— Victor LaValle (@victorlavalle) November 22, 2020
It's no secret that capitalists don't understand what socialism is. When they talk about socialism they mix in communism, fascism, feminism, atheism, and just about any other word that scares them. So it's no surprise that the vast majority of Americans have no idea what socialism is.
The surprising thing is that the vast majority of Americans fail to understand what capitalism is either. Even professional capitalists appear ignorant of how capitalism works.
Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis on Sunday released a statement disavowing its association with Michael Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell, claiming she had nothing to do with the president or his campaign.
Fibonacci shell
There is good and bad with most things. The myth of Thanksgiving which first nations peoples describe as a “National Day of Mourning” is the bad part. The better part of the holiday (IMO) springs from the intent to be thankful for the good we can find around us. Many studies indicate gratitude leads humans to be happier and healthier.
“Gratitude is good medicine,” says Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis and author of The Little Book of Gratitude.
“Clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person’s life. It can lower blood pressure and improve immune function. ... Grateful people engage in more exercise, have better dietary behaviors, are less likely to smoke and abuse alcohol and have higher rates of medication adherence.”
First we have Kate Aronoff, writing for the New Republic, who tells us that "Democrats’ Fear of the Green New Deal Is Tearing the Party Apart." Well, from reading her article it does seem a mystery why they're so against it, except of course that those who are for it are challenging their hold on power a little bit. Here's a telling segment of this piece:
(all art by Anthony Freda)
‘Killing for optics’? Obama claims he ‘took no joy’ in drone strikes, but ordered them to avoid looking ‘soft on terrorism’, RT.com, 19 Nov, 2020
“The ex-president’s new book ‘A Promised Land’ sheds some light on the Obama administration’s controversial expansion of the US drone program, which was launched under his predecessor George W. Bush.
One of Obama’s original campaign promises was for US withdrawal from middle-eastern conflicts. However, that promise was not fulfilled during his eight years in office, and the Democrat is now often accused of having further escalated violence in the region through his policies in Libya, Syria, and elsewhere.” […]
2 Companies Say Their Vaccines Are 95% Effective. What Does That Mean?
You might assume that 95 out of every 100 people vaccinated will be protected from Covid-19. But that’s not how the math works.
Short article, NYT courtesy of pockethits: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/health/covid-vaccine-95-effective.html
Playing a bit with the language. An open thread to show your visions of the world.
This week it was boats where the lens was found.
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What have you?
Thomas Frank explains how oligarchs have given populism a bad name with those of us who might embrace it:
https://scheerpost.com/2020/11/20/thomas-frank-dont-believe-anything-you...
Australia did something extremely unusual today. It took an honest look at what it's elite troops did in Afghanistan, and then told the public.
