From this morning’s walk…
Modern society has a lot in common with a schizophrenic patient…
As people become more like machines, machines become more like people–both in the modern world and in schizophrenia. Schizophrenic individuals often seem to inhabit the ‘uncanny valley’–a term that virtual reality and video game designers use to refer to that unsettling, liminal realm in which one is uncertain whether something or someone is alive or dead, real or unreal.
— The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World by Iain McGilchrist a.co/aU3khC6
Apparently it’s time to start thinking about my Halloween decorations…
From Caliban and the Witch I learned that capitalism reorganized peasant labor away from a more egalitarian split amongst men and women to one that emphasized men as laborers and women as the producers (through the womb) and caretakers of laborers. This system has prevailed since that time. Today, laborers are not exclusively men, as strength is no longer a job requirement in large swaths of the job market, and the womb is no longer required to produce laborers (think robotics and AI). This is a massive shift in the dynamics of the system. — Michael Bogdanffy-Kriegh
About Habit :: Essays On Attention Paid
… this is how we dance, you and i, moving from solo to duet to solo again, in a continuous flow of the habitual…
From today…
… this article kind of blew me away… i think i saved half of it in quotes to Drafts…
Dark forces in society were intentionally “making men weak.” Transgender people lived in a “delusion.” The fight for gay rights was “corrupting the minds of youth.” It could all be summed up in a catchphrase: “reject degeneracy, embrace masculinity.”
About Habit :: Essays On Attention Paid
… we sit and eat, sometimes wrapped in our thoughts, sometimes in steady conversation… some days, you tell me you had a bad dream… i have learned not to ask for the details… i find your bad dreams too disturbing…
About Habit :: Essays On Attention Paid
… sometime during my walking, and coffee, and reading, and writing, and walking home again, you have gotten up, made the coffee, let the dogs out, fed the dogs, and turned on the news… maybe you have started to message with your friends, or to catch up on Facebook…
Just received my SealVax starter kit with two large bags and two smaller bags. Already tested it on a block of frozen broth. Seems to work well. The bags are well made. Will see how durable.
That little triangle shaped thing is the vacuum pump.
About Habit :: Essays On Attention Paid
… these summer days, my walk is a photo meditation up and down Main Street… i have been photographing the same mile and a half of sidewalk, street and store fronts for years now… the possibilities are more inexhaustible than you would think…
Switched from Optimum to Verizon FIOS, canceled Optimum. Had to be pretty forceful and blunt to rebuff their attempts to keep me. My position, you should have been giving me your best price all along. And, your best price isn’t any better than FIOS. Goodbye Felicia.
About Habit :: Essays On Attention Paid
Habit is far more dependable than inspiration. Make progress by making habits. Don’t focus on getting into shape. Focus on becoming the kind of person who never misses a workout. –Kevin Kelly
… you and i are habit, both individual and coupled… we have taken this advice to heart…
From yesterday…
… today i started to build my music collection in Bandcamp… i have decided that i want to pay artists decently for their music and that i get overwhelmed by the unlimited nature of other streaming services… i want to be limited… i want to choose the music i have available to me carefully…
August 6, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson
And then, on August 1—last Tuesday—the Department of Justice charged Trump under laws Congress passed during Reconstruction to protect the Black Americans’ political rights. Trump is charged with conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding—violating a law passed to stop Ku Klux Klan terrorists from breaking up official meetings in the late 1860s—and obstructing that proceeding: the counting of electoral votes.
August 6, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson
That resolve did not hold. In the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act. Republican-dominated states immediately found ways to keep minority voters from the polls and their votes from being counted, and in 2020, then-president Trump tried to throw out the votes of people in majority Black districts in order to overturn the results of that year’s presidential election.
August 6, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson
On August 6, 1965, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act to guarantee Black Americans the right to vote.
From yesterday…
Read: More Serious Pleasure by Sheba Collective Staff 📚This book is a collection of Lesbian erotic short stories and was loaned to me by a lesbian writer friend as a study guide for writing sex between women. It was helpful for that purpose though it was generally more bluntly graphic than I would choose to be in my writing. As erotic literature, which I do like, there were several stories I found especially compelling and most of the others were a good enough read. Contains poetry too.
Beyond frustrated. Got tired of Black and Decker weed trimmers breaking down every other year from minor part failures. Decided to spend extra money for highly rated EGO trimmer. Completely failed in two weeks. WTF! Does nobody know how to make a durable tool anymore?
In the realm of the utterly irresponsible:
Twitch streamer’s ‘huge giveaway’ sparks police response at Union Square in NYC | CNN
CNN – Social media influencer Kai Cenat has been charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly after thousands-strong crowds gathered in Union Square in New York City for a giveaway, leaving dozens of people arrested and several police officers injured.
… what on earth was he thinking?!!
Brazil Reports a Big Decline in Amazon Deforestation Last Month – Mother Jones
“The main reason is the decision of Lula to aim for zero deforestation. Since then, we have created new conservation units and indigenous territories that have produced some results… Now we need to move towards a new model of prosperity that is less predatory, less damaging to local people and the forest.”
Florida public schools have “effectively banned” AP Psychology. ‹ Literary Hub
Today’s news from the front lines of Florida’s war on kids: The state has “effectively banned” Advanced Placement Psychology because its anti-LGBTQ law forbids the course’s material on gender and sexuality. Because the College Board quite reasonably refuses to excise sections acknowledging the full spectrum of gender and sexual orientation to suit the hateful whims of a supremely shitty state legislature, the three-decade-old course will be unavailable to all Florida public school students.
August 4, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson
The attack on our nation by individual Republicans seems to be a theme these days. After yesterday’s arraignment on charges that he conspired to defraud the United States, conspired and attempted to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspired to overturn Americans' constitutionally protected right to vote, Donald Trump today flouted the judge’s warning not to try to influence jurors. He posted on social media: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”