Today’s items.
*
Missed posting yesterday because we took a day drive, on the first day of a three-day (Memorial Day, in the US) holiday weekend. On such weekends (Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day) most Americans don’t celebrate the event so much as use the extra day off from work to travel or shop. Local news is always about traffic, on the roads and in the sky, and how bad the airports will be compared to last year, over the holiday weekend; and TV and newspaper ads are all about holiday sales, with the American priority, always, to shop, and buy more stuff.
This first item is interesting because I can’t tell from the title and subtitle what the claim is, exactly, and wonder how what it seems to claim might be true. Is the “in partnership with John Templeton Foundation” (a group that rewards those who conflate science and religion) shown under the byline a clue?
Working from home vs. commuting, a slow social trend we thought might be temporary, but which may be inevitable, and for the good.
I have a laptop connected to two big monitors, but otherwise this photo is apt. My cat Potsticker — not unlike this cat, but with more orange — lies on my computer table as I work. Usually in the late afternoons when he’s expecting his dinner.
Scientific American is a magazine I’ve read intermittently for 50 years.
First, a follow up to my Media Literacy post three days ago. Stop the Presses! Something amazing has happened!
Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 23 May 2023: Fox News falls for another hoax, as the Dominion defamation settlement pays off, subtitled “The most surprising part of the “homeless veterans” hoax? Fox News admitted they were wrong”
Apparently the Dominion defamation settlement had consequences, lest Fox News keeps getting sued for lying. The photo here… with her expression…. seems appropriate.
Continue reading
Items today:
*
More and more it seems clear that MAGA is about reasserting the dominance in America of straight white Christians, which seems to entail going back to the eras of Jim Crow, of homosexuality being illegal and gays worrying their careers would be ruined if they were found out, and abortions being performed in back alleys. The 1950s, or even before.
NY Times, 21 May 2023: N.A.A.C.P. Issues Florida Travel Advisory, Joining Latino and L.G.B.T.Q. Groups, subtitled “The N.A.A.C.P. urged people to consider Florida’s policies on diversity and race under Gov. Ron DeSantis when thinking of traveling there.” Continue reading
Items today about
This item goes with the theme of yesterday’s post.
NY Times, Paul Krugman, 15 May 2023: Why Are Americans So Negative About the Economy?
Continue reading
NY Times, Megan K. Stack, 20 May 2023: If You’re Hearing About the Border, Someone Is Trying to Scare You
Items today:
Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, May 18, 2023
