Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Honestly the idea that we can seperate conversations about reproductive rights from conversations about Trans healthcare as if they are entirely seperate discussions is short sighted AF tbqh

"There's a reason the religious right are so invested in the culture war about Trans people mate. We've been saying this for fucking ages.

"Rolling back bodily Autonomy for Trans people isn't the ultimate goal of any of the AstroTurf Transphobe groups and if you think it is you need to give your head a wobble."

-- Neasa Grace Carmody (NeasaEdmunds), 2021-09-06

"Calling people 'alarmist' is usually just a way of trying to discredit them, demonstrated by the fact that it goes on even after they've been proven correct.

"When they cannot answer your arguments or refute the facts, they attack your tone and tactics. But that's not what they really want. They want you to stop, to shut up, to be ignored.

[...]

"The problem isn't people being scared. The problem is people not being scared enough. I wish deep concerns were enough to inspire the bold action often required in today's besieged world. The fear comes when it's too late for the easy path.

"I go on TV and shout about the murders of my friends, the slaughter of innocents in war, and am told to calm down. Why am I angry? No, why aren't you? Now America is fighting to save its democracy, its soul, and it's not time to calm down. Sound the alarms."

-- Garry Kasparov (Kasparov63), 2021-09-02

"Sprungë blostm of onë rootë,
 þoli gost þee rest upon;
 þat was for mankinnes bbotë
 and her soul aleesë for on.
 Levdi mildë, soft and swootë,
 ich crië merci, ich am þi mon,
 to hondë boþen and to footë
 on allë wiseë þat ihc kon."
  -- from "Edi be þu, heven-queenë", anonymous, English, 13th century

[Translation from Middle English into Modern English, cribbed from the liner notes of English Songs of the Middle Ages by Sequentia -- translated by E.J. Dobson:
"Blossom sprung from a single root,
 the Holy Ghost rested upon thee;
 that was for mankind's salvation,
 and to free their souls in exchage for one.
 Gentle lady, soft and sweet, I beg forgivenes, I am thy man,
 both hand and foot, in every way that I can be"]

"The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology." -- E.O. Wilson, 2009-09-10

"I think I thought that after lockdown was lifted, and things went back to some degree of 'normal' - whatever that is - time would snap back into place and the days would resume their usual progression, Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday and so on. It's not that I'm particularly attached to that order; it's more that I feel like I blinked and lost a year, and then I blinked and lost another 9 months. And now I'm filled with existential dread that I will blink again and I'll be 50 and then I'll be 80 and still I'll just be sat here, in my house, drifting from the bed to the desk to the sofa to the bed, and then I'll be dead. I'm not scared of death, you understand. I just didn't expect it to run up behind me in this aggressive manner.

[...]

"Our tendency to describe time in terms of space, place, and motion, makes intuitive as well as scientific sense: time is a property of space, and the two are bound together in physics to form the four-dimensional model we refer to as 'spacetime'. Less scientific, but I think still intuitively true: the fact that our movement in and through space has been severely restricted over the past 18 months has had an impact on our perception of our movement in and through time. We physically haven't travelled through space very much, so we feel like we haven't travelled through time very much either, and then are surprised when we look up to find it's next month."

-- Nat Guest (unfortunatalie), "time's gone weird, rip time", 2021-09-09

From "Why The Guardian Censored Judith Butler on TERFs", by Emanuel Maiberg, Vice, 2021-09-08:

According to Gleeson, who provided Motherboard with a written statement, the Guardian's editorial team, and in particular its team based in the UK, "folded" under pressure from readers who took issue with the article and decided to "censor" Butler.

"Habitual bigots online are going to do their thing, and usually respond to pieces without even reading them," Gleeson wrote in a statement sent to Motherboard. "What's been more unexpected was how quickly the publication folded. I was expecting the Guardian US to stand by me as a writer, and while I have received apologies from their side, this has been a draining and consuming episode that I didn't expect."

More on this: "The Guardian has been accused of 'censoring' feminist icon Judith Butler after the newspaper deleted part of an interview in which they compared trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) to fascists.", by Lily Wakefield, Pinknews, 2021-09-08

"Shmita is set in the Bible: 'The seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the LORD; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.'

[...]

"One message from the United Nations report is that we are past the time when individual actions -- my compost, your Tesla, Ed Begley's house -- will make a difference.

[...]

"And that's where shmita comes in. It isn't up to each of us to save the land -- shmita wasn't an individual choice. It was a task mandated for the entire society; the regulations were clear, wrapped in 'thou shalts' and enforced from on high: 'Now if, after all that, you do not hearken to me,' warns Leviticus 26, 'I will continue to discipline you, sevenfold, for your sins.... Your land will not give-forth its yield, the trees of the land will not give-forth their fruit.'

[...]

"Judaism, of course, knows from personal responsibility. Indeed, the prime directive of the New Year is atonement, making good with each person you have wronged so that you can make good with God.

"And yet the lesson of shmita makes it clear that when it comes to caring for the Earth, we must act together. Only common action can prevent a tragedy of the commons."

-- Rob Eshman, "Op-Ed: This Rosh Hashanah, give Earth a sabbatical", Los Angeles Times, 2021-09-05

[Today is the second day of Rosh Hashana, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, and the anniversary of Star Trek>'s debut on CBS (1966). I know I have friends celebrating each of those, or some combination of them.]

"Let them remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Let them be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power, and that we can-every one-do our share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and all frustrations and all disappointments. And above all, remember that the meaning of life is to build a life as if it were a work of art. You're not a machine. And you are young. Start working on this great work of art called your own existence." -- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (b. 1907-01-11, d. 1972-12-23)

[Shanah tovah to all my Jewish friends!]

Today is
Gregorian: 2021 September 07
Julian: 2021 August 25
Hebrew: 5782 Tishri 01 -- 1st day of Rosh Hashana & 1st day of 5782
Islamic: 1443 Murhharram 29
Persian: 1400 Shahrivar 16
Mayan: 0.0.0.13.0.8.15.2
Indian: 1943 Bhadra 16
Coptic: 1737 Pi Kogi Evanot 02

[Sorry, was battling a migraine and didn't get a quote lined up. Today's quote will come later in the day.]

"One of the things that I think a lot of people are missing when they focus on the 'abortion rights' portion of the concept of 'overturning Roe v. Wade' is that the Roe v. Wade decision wasn't legally centered on the question of abortion per se but on the right to privacy.

[...]

"The main argument of Roe v. Wade hinged on the right to privacy under the 4th amendment, namely the idea that a private individual has the right to engage in such medical decisions as they see fit without the state getting involved.

"It also hinged on the 14th Amendment's 'due process' clause. So basically, the idea here is that without 'due process,' you cannot be deprived of your liberty to make medical decisions for yourself, nor can you be deprived of your right to privacy about those decisions.

"And if you're saying 'okay, yeah, but it's really about abortion,' maybe it is. But you know what else depends upon the constitutional right to privacy?

"How about the case which established that right to privacy, Griswold v. CT?

[...]

"Eisenstadt v. Baird (which established that access to contraception must be legal regardless of marital status) relied upon Griswold's right to privacy, and extended that right to privacy under the Equal Protection Clause.

[...]

"Let's consult the Legal Information Institute again. What OTHER decision relies upon this right to privacy?

"If you guessed 'Lawrence v. Texas,' which struck down that state's sodomy laws that essentially made queerness illegal, you're right!

"Not only do I think that this is a very deliberate target of this entire attack on our very literal freedom to decide how we live our lives and what we want to do with our bodies, who we love, etc., but I think the cases to challenge these decisions are already being set up.

[...]

"Again, you can think I'm alarmist as much as you fucking want to, and I'll just point you back at the last five years of our judicial and legislative history.

"It's ALL under attack. This is just where it starts."

-- Forged & Folded A Thousand Times in Rainbow Flame (vaspider), 2021-09-04 [Note that I left out a lot of important details, arguments, background, and links in those ellipses, and I still maybe quoted a bit much. Go read.]

Happy Labor Day to everyone celebrating that (yes, yes, I know, that's 1 May most places, but the US is ever so scared of both socialism and communism, so we couldn't have it on that day). And shanah tovah to everyone starting Rosh Hashanah celebrations this evening!

"Sonnet for our second COVID Rosh Hashanah", by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (velveteenrabbi), 2021-08-04

I don't want to reckon with my choices:
feels like that's all we've done for 18 months
(should I mask, is this safe, what if
we meet outside and never breathe together?)
I don't want to query who will live
and who will die, who by wildfire and who
by flooded subway, who intubated and alone
and who will have enough while others lack.
I just want all of us to thrive: our hearts
at ease, our hopes in reach at last.
Come close to me, God. Comfort me with apples.
Remind me the world is born again each year --
even if I'm not ready, even if this year
I'm not sure I know the words to pray.

Rabbi Emily Cohen (ThatRabbiCohen), 2021-08-30:

Dear Jews,

Please be kind to your clergy this season.
It's much harder than last year.

Love, A Rabbi

//

Dear Non-Jews,

Please be kind to the Jews in your life for the next few weeks. We're having our 2nd COVID High Holy Days. It's much harder than last year.

Love,
A Jew

See also ...

"Those evangelicals may talk a big game, but only a lesbian can guarantee the second coming." -- Marie Connor (thistallawkgirl), 2021-09-03

"There are limited gender options in these surveys: male, female and, on some surveys, 'do not wish to disclose.' As scientists who exist outside the gender binary, many of us do wish to disclose our gender, but are unable to do so because these terms do not reflect our identities.

[...]

"As scientists and scientific institutions, we must promote collection of accurate data. Changing methods based on new information is a cornerstone of good science. The NSF is collecting inaccurate data: nonbinary people, who are neither men nor women, must either report their gender falsely or not disclose it. An NSF spokesperson confirmed last year that the agency is considering splitting the question into two parts: 'current gender identity' and 'assigned sex at birth.' Despite its popularity, using biological sex as a proxy for gendered experience is unscientific, outdated and often motivated by a desire to exclude. Much of the evidence in favor of a two-step question comes from trans health research, whose findings may not apply outside of medical contexts. One often-cited study about intake forms in a sexual health clinic showed that a two-step question led to 4.8 times more trans people being identified, but it was the addition of a 'Nonbinary/Genderqueer' gender option that accounted for over half of the increase.

"Context is also critical here: a person who is willing to tell their doctor about their birth assignment may feel differently about the same question on a federal census. Transgender people are often uncomfortable being asked their assigned sex at birth, and nonbinary scientists we know often prefer not to disclose it. Further, while 'transgender' is not a stable or truly measur able category, this information can be collected directly and respectfully by asking the optional question 'Do you identify as transgender?' Relying on assigned sex at birth to back-calculate who is and isn't a gender minority just creates another artificial binary and flattens the experiences of scientists in our community."

-- from "Nonbinary Scientists Want Funding Agencies to Change How they Collect Gender Data", Scientific American, 2021-08-30, by Riley DeHority (odetomyday) and three others. [DeHority mentioned elsewhere that, "I wasn't originally supposed to be listed first on this, but the original first author was dealing with so much harassment (and threats of violence) on the street that they didn't want the extra stress."]

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works 8.8 hours every day. Yet a study of nearly 2,000 full-time office workers revealed that most people aren't working for most of the time they're at work.

[...]

"This is particularly good news for freelancers and others who work from home. It's easy to feel like you're not "doing" enough when you don't have to go into an office. Yet this research suggests that if you're productive for just three hours a day, you're outputting the same amount as someone in the office for eight hours."

-- Melanie Curtin (melaniebcurtin), "In an 8-Hour Day, the Average Worker Is Productive for This Many Hours", 2016-07-21, Inc. [bold emphasis added to make it clearer that this does not apply to every kind of job]

"Like, we used to [assign gender to human remains in archaeological sites] based on grave goods, sword = male, etc. Then we started doing bone features but you can't tell if you're looking at a woman or an AMAB with a wide pelvis. Recently we've started doing chromosome analysis but that's not reliable either.

"Basically there's a good chance that future archaeologists will gender us based on something we didn't even consider relevant, and I think we have a duty to confuse them by burying everyone with a sword."

-- Tom Artingstall (ChesterRamoray), 2021-08-30

[I approve of this plan.]

"One thing that frustrates me about having to deal with transphobia is that there are soooo many cool philosophical conversations I want to have about the nature of gender and concisouness and more but I keep having to talk about to misinformation and misconceptions." -- Jessie Earl (jessiegender), 2021-08-30

This reminds me of another quote about another bigotry:

"The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn't shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing." -- Toni Morrison (b. 1931-02-18, d. 2019-08-05), "A Humanist View", 1975-05-30

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis (b. 1898-11-29, d. 1963-11-22), "God in the Dock", 1948

"I understand that you don't need to leave because they'll make you, or because you need to in order to survive. I understand it is not your humanity that is assaulted by their policies. I understand that while they cut me out of the body, you will need to cut yourself out in order to leave. It will be painful, and messy, and scary.

"I understand all of these things. I want you to know I understand them because I am asking you to leave anyway.

"If you can understand that I am not fully affirmed in anti-queer churches; in families which do not accept LGBT children, siblings, parents, or partners; in the eyes of our government, I am asking you to see that you are standing inside a place I am not allowed. And so I do not want you to stay, or to build bridges, or to try to work from the inside out. I want you to stand beside me. I want you to walk across the gulf these anti-gay forces have created between you and me and I want you to stand with me.

"I want you to leave my oppressors behind and stand with me. I want you to refuse to cooperate with injustice. [...]

"[...] I am asking that you leave the places which divide and join the places which empower."

-- Brian G. Murphy (QTheology), "Division & Solidarity: A letter to straight allies", Queer Theology [emphasis present in original text]

"Britney Spears implies the existence of Britney Swords and Britney Shields. If enough of them exist we could construct a rudimentary phalanx" -- BenJavert Comedy (BenJavertComedy), 2021-08-27

"Britney Seax, Britney Saber, Britney Scythe…

"Am here for all the Warrior Britneys"

-- Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (TheRaDR), replying

"The road to hell is actually paved with abdications of moral responsibility." -- Trinh Q. Truong (trinhqtruong), 2021-08-16