Two perspectives
on Allepo.
Why there's
nostalgia for the Soviet Union in spite of
its victims.
Evan Osnos
on tyranny:
Tyranny
does not begin with violence; it begins with the first gesture of
collaboration. Its most enduring crime is drawing decent men and women
into its siege of the truth.
Our horribly
unjust justice system.
Just two excerpts from
Coates' must-read "My President Was Black."
Barack Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012 were dismissed by some of his critics as merely symbolic for African Americans. But there is nothing “mere” about symbols… Burning crosses do not literally raise the black poverty rate, and the Confederate flag does not directly expand the wealth gap.
and
Historians will spend the next century analyzing how a country with such allegedly grand democratic traditions was, so swiftly and so easily, brought to the brink of fascism. But one needn’t stretch too far to conclude that an eight-year campaign of consistent and open racism aimed at the leader of the free world helped clear the way.
Why I still haven't managed to muster compassion for Trump voters:
But the istina of the 2016 campaign is that Trump’s base was heavily dependent on racists and xenophobes, Trump basked in and stoked their anger and hatred, and all those who voted for him cast a ballot for a man they knew to be a racist, sexist xenophobe. That was an act of racism.
That and
this (on the Jewish family that
did skip town early because they were smeared by
Fox and
Breitbart).
Would we have Pizzagate had we
responded to gamergate?
You--provided that you'd rather live--want a
female doctor.
It's
hard to undo climate rules, fortunately.
I recently had reason to revisit these
two articles, which I
blogged about at the time.
This reminded me of the second in particular, in that... the
Post wants me to feel bad for these people and I kind of do but I don't. I have trouble responding with
compassion (and outrage) to the
man who pushes wheelchairs at National and sometimes can't afford to get home. But "I'm a stay-at-home mom of four and can't afford xmas gifts for my kid?" Get a job. If I had four kids I couldn't afford shit either; we all make our choices. And the mom who's kid wants a Playstation? Guess what? I asked my parents for a Nintendo when I was a kid; they told me to make the money for it myself, and by the time I did, I changed my mind (and more importantly, learned that things have opportunity costs--not a bad lesson).
I do and don't
hear this. I think vast differences in income can be a challenge on either side. I've not been in a serious relationship where I've vastly outearned the man--I've probably been on any number of dates where I did, but no information would have come out to broadcast that fact. I don't agree that men, generally, are turned off by ambition and outspokenness; plenty are, but who needs them? Also, her other article on 'manly men' is awful--there's a clear line between manliness and intrusiveness and disrespect for boundaries.
Everything about this
screams red-flag, even as I don't doubt the benefits of nursing.
More things
not to do when dating or
trying to.
Dr. Nerdlove on
how not to text and other dating truths:
When it comes to dating in all of its forms, there’s one universal sin: being boring... There should be substance behind your texting – something meaty that the
other person can sink their conversational teeth into. It could be
something crazy that’s happening or a question that prompts a
conversation. You could even be texting just to flirt, because flirting
is inherently fun. But if all you’re doing is just killing time, then you’re killing the attraction as well.
and
Rolling into the conversation cock first is a signal to others. Under
the most charitable reading, you’re someone who’s so blind to social
conventions and emotional intelligence that it’s amazing you’re allowed
out of the house. At worst, it’s a giant neon sign that you don’t see
the person you’re texting as a person. For all intents and
purposes, you’re signalling that you see them as an especially elaborate
sex toy and you’re hoping to jerk off inside them.
Pair with this from
Ask Polly:
What
you experienced is a very personal form of terrorism: Some coward (or
group of cowards) resented you and your friends because you had the
audacity to take up space and behave confidently while also being
sexually attractive. You had more power than they could bear. They hated
you for that power, and hated that you didn’t give a fuck how they felt
about you.
And while we're
reading Ask Polly:
I
also think it’s important and smart to invite single people to
so-called couples gatherings. That’s just normal, honestly, even if a
world of lazy couples tends not to see it that way. Single people need
to get invited to do “boring” things, too. A lot of single people love
boring shit, but because they’re single, they’re forced to go out on the
town a lot, sometimes much more than they actually want to. Supporting
single people no matter what, embracing and including people without
kids when you have kids — this is just part of being a solid friend. And
not to sound harsh, but none of us know when we could end up single
again. Shit happens. Defying the stupid-ass ways our culture sorts us
into categories is important. The more you break those boundaries and
shake things up, the better your social life will be.
To give better gifts, don't overthink it and focus on
longterm utility rather than immediate reaction.
See my thread on how (for the bzillionth time)
"kasha" DOES NOT mean buckwheat.
I leave you with some holiday thoughts with the extraordinary J. K. Rowling (click and read the whole thread):
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