Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"it is fully within the state's power to stop the proud boys. it always has been. we see it most clearly when police just watch them hurt people, but the state is always choosing to allow this to continue." -- molly conger (socialistdogmom), 2021-08-22

"The state has the monopoly on violence, but apparently they are open to some licensing agreements." -- Alex (they/them) (wandofcatctrl), replying to Molly Conger

madeline odent (oldenoughtosay), 2021-08-16:

america really is the world's police*

*they storm in; make situations more volatile; kill a lot of people of colour; fail to accomplish anything useful; sexually assault members of the community they say they're helping; steal resources; leave and blame everything on the victims

"Fall not in love, therefore; it will stick to your face." -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" (thanks to blueeowyn)

[I grew up hearing "Deteriorata" and "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", and later became fond of "Love Hurts", and still I persist in falling in love. In my defense, I offer the observation that love doesn't always stick to your face in a bad way. (TMI? Don't care.)]

"The columnists who wrote us into our messes will not write us out of them." -- Anand Giridharadas @ The.Ink (AnandWrites), 2021-08-22

"Being wholehearted is not about being physically perfect or emotionally flawless, but rather that we can acknowledge and accept our flaws, to take the curveballs as they are launched at us, and handle our lives in a way that reflects who we really are, not the theoretically perfect version of ourselves.

"We cannot hold ourselves to some ridiculous high standard of perfection, even those of us who are positively God-like in our abilities. No matter how talented, or athletic, or brilliant we may be, we are still human. To aspire to anything more than that is not just unhealthy, it is foolhardy. It is something akin to the Migdal Bavel, the Tower of Babel, back in Parashat Noah. We cannot aspire to be God-like; the results would be disastrous.

[...]

"Reb Zusya of Anapol, who lived in 18th century Ukraine, is perhaps best known for saying, "When I get to olam haba, the world to come, the Qadosh Barukh Hu will not ask me, 'Why were you not more like Moshe, or more like Avraham,' but rather, 'Why were you not more like Zusya?.'"

"And, lest you think that this principle applies only to world-class athletes, let us also remember that the curse of winning at all costs has infected our world in many areas: in politics, at work, in our families and communities.

"In politics, winning at all costs can lead to the collapse of democracy; we have seen it in other nations, and we are seeing hints of it here in America as well.

"At work and in business, winning at all costs leads to toxic environments and unethical decisions.

"In family life, winning at all costs causes emotional rifts that sometimes result in estrangement from those who love us.

"In communal life, winning at all costs creates an environment in which dissent is not tolerated, and organizations descend into chaotic infighting.

"I'm sure that many of us could think of specific examples in which we as individuals have been hurt by others who pursue winning to the detriment of the people around them."

-- Rabbi Seth Adelson (RavHaz), "Walking Wholeheartedly, or, the Danger of Winning at All Costs – Shofetim 5781", 2021-08-14 (published 2021-08-16) [I think this is the rabbi's central point, but not the only important point, in the sermon.]

"The only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards." -- Gene Spafford

"if dr. frank n furter's castle in rocky horror is wheelchair accessible what excuse does anyone else have" -- pots girl summer (givemepllants), 2021-08-12

"When Americans start asking you 'why don't you just' it means they're about to kill you and make it look like you asked for it." -- Anosognosiogenesis (pookleblinky), 2020-07-15

"I'm not sure there is a clearly defined moment when patriotism becomes idolatry because it happens in such subtle ways, but you definitely know it's occurred when you stand in the front of your sanctuary and contemplate where to move the stars and stripes so as not to offend anyone during worship.

"Unfortunately, that struggle is not unique. I can't count how many pastors have told me they leave the American flag in their sanctuaries simply because they're afraid of the vitriol that would be unleashed by some of their parishioners if the flag moved. I'm left dumbfounded every time I hear that story from yet another pastor somewhere in America."

-- Zack Hunt (zaackhunt), "Can Patriotism Become Idolatry?", 2019-07-04

"When a person, organization, or government opposes the full equality of queer people, they create a gulf between themselves and me. If there is division when queers come out or speak up, we do not create it; we simply bring attention to the division which is already there, a division we did not create.

"I am no longer a member of the church I grew up in. Though the process of separating myself from my church was painful at the time, it was inevitable. My church had cut me out of its body long before I came out."

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

"The decision to falsely charge a group of protesters as a criminal street gang was approved and known at the highest levels of the Phoenix Police Department, according to the investigation conducted by an outside law firm.

"The probe found that protest response officers built the case on dubious and non-existent evidence and intentionally tried to 'keep things quiet' to circumvent the normal process of classifying a brand new street gang."

-- Dave Biscobing (DaveBiscobing15), "Phoenix PD chief disciplined, others demoted after probes into gang charges and challenge coin", 2021-08-12

"many 'police reform' consultants will try to tell you that this pattern of corruption is proof that cops need more money for training. but the opposite is true: consistent stuff like this across the U.S. shows that police are highly trained. THIS is what they are trained for..." -- Alec Karakatsanis (equalityAlec), 2021-08-12

"I wonder if perhaps one of the impediments to folks accepting anarchism is that to accept that people are capable of offering care in community w/o coercion is to accept that the people in their life could have done so and chose not to." -- Your Friendly Butch Anarchist (butchanarchy), 2021-08-11

Dr. Amy Marschall, Psy.D. (DrAmyMarschall), 2021-08-08:

"I trust my immune system" Ok well my seasonal allergies give me reason to believe mine doesn't always make the best choices without specific instructions

"In history, there are no heroes. There do seem to be a lot of anxious, jealous men, though." -- Jamie Jeffers (BritishPodcast), The British History Podcast, 2021-07-30, ep. 377, "The King of Wales"

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Vax is what you can do for your country." -- Dan Rather, 2021-08-11

"Unfortunately, we've got the delta variant. The CDC estimates the R0 of the delta variant as between 6 and 9, so let's see what happens to the calculation above if we use an R0 value of 8. We also need to consider how the delta variant affects the effectiveness of the vaccines. We don't know for sure how effective our vaccines are against delta, but the best estimates we have range at about 85 to 88 percent. Using a value of 85 percent (with 53 percent of the population susceptible), we find that the current Re for the delta variant in the U.S. might be as high as 5.

"You read that right-even after vaccinating half the po pulation, we still expect that people infected with the delta variant will, on average, infect more people than they would have with original virus. That's a big deal, and it's likely why the CDC has updated its guidance on masks. The delta variant is a game-changer and the current level of vaccination in the U.S. is not enough to stop it spreading.

"So, what do we do? We need to use all our tools from 2020, like masking, capacity limits, widespread testing, and quarantine and isolation of infected or exposed individuals[...]

"We may be masking for a while longer in an effort to get the Re of the delta variant closer to 1, or even below. But hopefully, if we all work together toward this goal, we can get to a point where masks are no longer needed to control the spread of COVID."

-- Eleanor J. Murray and Ruby Barnard-Mayers, "How We'll Know It's Finally Time to Stop Masking", 2021-08-06, Slate

An earlier veresion, Medium a day earlier and on Twitter a couple days before that, included this:

"We can also see that if Delta is really this bad, we'll need masks & other precautions for a long time to come.

"That's a real bummer & what's worse, we could have avoided this by doing a better job controlling infections last year.

"Let's not make the same mistakes twice!"

[...]

"It's clearly a dire report.

"But the report also gives a very clear solution:

"'Achieving global net zero CO2 emissions is a requirement for stabilizing CO2-induced global surface temperature increase, with anthropogenic CO2 emissions balanced by anthropogenic removals of CO2.'

"Using the word 'requirement' here is a major step.

"What this report says, without explicitly saying it, is that there is no future left for fossil fuels. Every ton of CO2 warms the planet. And we can't afford to warm the planet anymore, we're already at the breaking point.

"Figure showing past and potential future warming, along with a clear relationship with fossil fuel emissions, with the title 'Every tonne of CO2 emissions adds to global warming'

"What the report doesn't say:

"There's no explicit mention of fossil fuels in the new IPCC report at all. No oil. No gas. No coal.

"That's an intentional decision. Every single line of the report was unanimously approved by governments, and there are some governments, of course, that still make a lot of money from fossil fuels.

"Climate change isn't just something that's happening, it's being done to us."

[...]

-- Eric Holthaus (EricHolthaus), 2021-08-09 ( on Substack, and also on Twitter. ( start of Twitter thread))

Today is
Gregorian: 2021 August 10
Julian: 2021 July 29
Hebrew: 5781 Elul 02
Islamic: 1443 Muharram 01 -- New Year 1443
Persian: 1400 Mordad 19
Mayan: 0.0.0.13.0.8.13.14
Indian: 1943 Sravana 19
Coptic: 1737 Mesori 04

mohamad safa (mhdksafa) tweeted, 2021-08-08 ... Overheard: "Until you do 30 minutes+ of CPR in a plastic gown, N95, surgical mask, two pairs of gloves and a face shield, you should probably stop complaining about wearing some fabric on your face to the grocery store".

"My meaningless office job: they pay me for my body and mind, but my heart gets no paycheck and my soul pays the taxes." -- Carrie Latet ( thanks to stoneself, who got it from dancing-minerva)

From "Kitty at the Door" ( lyrics), lyrics by Lynn McKinney, music by Marc Gunn (celtfather):

So kitty sat with the door open
Not moving except for his ears, singing…

"I'll go outside a while;
But then, I might just stay in.
Yes, I'll sit and think a bit
And I'll neither go out nor stay in."