Blog
Read this chapter in the January 6 Committee’s report
Everyone should read the final report of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. The committee interviewed a thousand witnesses and crunched a million documents to reach its conclusions, so this is valuable information.
What we fear from the ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’
In Finney’s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers, alien seed pods fall to earth and sprout plants that quickly mature. While a human is asleep, the plant produces an emotionless clone of the human body and then destroys the original body.
Transforming into ourselves: Identity and climate
Discovering who we’ve always been and who we must become, collectively. We don’t have to live according to a prescribed model of sexuality or gender. We don’t have to burn fossil fuels either. Everything could be different.
Two things ‘cancel culture’ refers to
On ‘speaking first’ and the meaning of ‘engagement’. You can decline to “engage” online. Think quietly somewhere else. That’s not “cancel culture.” Rewarding someone for being wrong serves no one’s interests.
High school debate judges have their own opinions
They want an inclusive, non-hostile environment. Oppression can be systemic. We know our own experiences. These are obvious facts. How can we pretend not to know them when we make any judgment whatsoever?
A hostile critic isn’t impartial
They complain about our greatest strengths. In real life, when our enemies point out our ‘faults,’ we don’t always need to take it to heart. They don’t have our best interests in mind.
Quit Twitter?
It’s been a Fire Swamp, and it’ll get worse. Here’s where you can go. If it isn’t Trump who’s given free rein to make Twitter swampier than it already is, it’ll be someone like Trump. Maybe a hundred Trump figures.
We may not have Twitter tomorrow
Letting go is a complex process, and there’s no one right way to do it. Sometimes good things can’t be saved. We can be sad and frustrated. But, even not wanting to let go, we can give ourselves permission to actually let go.
We mortals must combat hate speech
Starboard buys Parler, and it looks like strange fire. This is all kinds of strange fire, except for the queer kind that we like. It is instead made of strange fires that deserve to be scrutinized and judged.