Automated updates: 2023-04-28
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John Colagioia
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@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Hashtags: #Quotes #WomensHistory
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Posted to Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110106553011924800) and [🥚🐛 Cohost](https://cohost.org/jcolag/post/1249117-database-api-service)
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> **Database API Service?**
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> ### Database API Service?
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>
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> Fellow software people: In prototyping a small project, I'd like to store modest amounts of data remotely. Does some company offer a service (ideally with a free tier) that exposes an API for database operations?
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>
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@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ However, the series also only barely hides its influences. Consider at least th
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* Picard derives substantially from Admiral Kirk, someone who has had a storied career with some prominent, reckless incidents. People think of him as somewhere between a terrifying force of nature and a diplomat, even though he doesn't really answer to the description of either. And he has some rivalry with his younger first officer.
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* Riker, likewise, derives almost entirely from Will Decker, talented but brash, having existing personal relationships---including a past romantic relationship with some psychic aspect to it---with many younger members of the crew, and thinking that he has a right to lead the *Enterprise*.
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* Troi derives almost entirely from Ilia, with her "exotic" background that plays on Orientalist tropes, bland sexuality targeted at an adolescent demographic, empathic abilities, prior relationship with the first officer, and lack of clarity as to what she actually does.
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* Troi derives almost entirely from Ilia, with her "exotic" background that plays on Orientalist tropes---Persis Khambatta grew up in India, and Marina Sirtis patterned Troi's accent after that of certain Israelis---bland sexuality targeted at an adolescent demographic, empathic abilities, prior relationship with the first officer, and lack of clarity as to what she actually does.
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* Data, I initially pegged as derived from Sonak---the ill-fated Vulcan science officer---but he more closely matches V'Ger's probe based on Ilia, an artificial creature with allegedly no emotions, desperate to "become" human and fascinated with games. I don't know how you get both Ilia *and* the probe based on her, but we almost certainly have both represented.
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* Q derives from McCoy. Here me out, here. We have clear analogues of Decker and Ilia, so they must have survived the pilot *In Thy Image*, therefore someone else must have bonded with V'Ger, and McCoy seems like the most likely candidate. The franchise has, despite his bigoted views, always tried to position McCoy as the "humanist" of the crew, and he didn't really want to return to Starfleet, nor did he have a reason to return home. Meanwhile, V'Ger wants to learn about humanity's potential, and so they test their old colleagues, their combined minds presumably making them slightly erratic and not realizing the consequences of their actions. McCoy might show back up for a season to spend time with...well, I'll get to that.
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* Crusher, then, *could* derive from McCoy's daughter Joanna, who we never met during the series. But for a rewrite, Joanna would have had a prior relationship with Kirk, and the idea of a *literal* next-generation seems appealing. Crusher even talks about a parent who served as a doctor with an improvised practice on a colony. The half-forgotten romance also suggests a possible connection with Carol Marcus.
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@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
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---
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layout: post
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title: Toots 🐘 from 04/24 to 04/28
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date: 2023-04-28 17:23:08-0400
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categories:
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tags: [linkdump, mastodon, socialmedia, week]
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summary: Toots for the Week of April 24th, 2023
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thumbnail: /blog/assets/CLM_14456_71r_detail.png
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teaser: This week, we have Picard, Mastodon, Sri Lanka, Jim Jordan and the NYT, ethical debt, "intellectual diversity," the social safety net, heteronormativity, super-aging, and Arab-American Heritage
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proofed: true
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---
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As [discussed previously]({% post_url 2019-12-31-new-year %}), on Fridays, I present my weekly social media roundups. Note that toots of articles generally include header images from the articles, which I don't include here unless their creators *happen* to have released them for use under a free license, and I notice. Most have not, or I don't notice. But I now add my commentary here, where I don't feel restricted by message length.
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Also, I don't generally attach pictures to posts with quotations.
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## 10:42 -- Sun 23 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Posted on 🥚🐛 Cohost](https://cohost.org/jcolag/post/1381365-a-whole-mess-of-pica)
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> ### A Whole Mess of Picard
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>
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> Like the witty people say...
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>
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> > If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.
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>
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> Accustomed as I've become to writing blog posts, this clocks in at around three thousand words...*after* chopping out some bits that didn't seem to go anywhere. And if you don't care about *Star Trek*, apologies in advance.
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>
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> I want to preface this post by saying that, especially because **Star Trek: Picard** traded largely on nostalgia, don't take any of my attempts at analysis as telling you not to enjoy it. I didn't enjoy the show, but I also don't fit modern *Star Trek*'s demographic of "nostalgic for the 1990s." While I watched it as it aired, I never loved **TNG** like a lot of people did, and as I rewatch it for [my Thursday blog posts](/blog/tag/startrek) to try to figure out how people actually live in the Federation, I don't see that it has improved with age. If you love both shows, I have no objection to that.
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>
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> [read more 🥚🐛](https://cohost.org/jcolag/post/1381365-a-whole-mess-of-pica)
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Hashtags: Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Star Trek Picard
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It goes on from there, but it seems like a waste of space to include it in a blog post. For anybody allergic to Cohost, for some reason, I have [a copy on Buy Me a Coffee](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jcolag/a-whole-mess-picard), too. Maybe I'll update it for the newsletter, so make sure to sign up.
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## 3:25 PM -- Sun 23 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Posted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110249768171995808)
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> I should probably mention two browser extensions that have made my life on [#Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/tags/Mastodon) much easier.
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>
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> StreetPass checks every webpage that you look at for Mastodon authentication links, lighting up so that you can follow people whose work you like. [https://streetpass.social/](https://streetpass.social/ "https://streetpass.social/")
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>
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> Graze (Firefox only?) rewires the "Follow" buttons on other servers, so that it actually has you follow the person, instead of telling you **how** to follow. [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/graze/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/graze/ "https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/graze/")
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>
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> Vastly better experience.
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I've actually wanted to post this *somewhere* for a while, even considering a full Sunday post for it. Now it lives on Mastodon, where it belongs. I don't know what I didn't do that in the first place...
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## 9:01 -- Mon 24 April 2023
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{% embed https://globalvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Anti-government_protest_in_Sri_Lanka_2022-1200x675.jpg|Protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa near the Presidential Secretariat (2022)|false|by AntanO. CC BY-SA 4.0 %}
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110253917049245175) [Sri Lanka's proposed anti-terrorism law aims to curb civil protests](https://globalvoices.org/2023/04/17/sri-lankas-proposed-anti-terrorism-law-aims-to-curb-civil-protests/) from Global Voices
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> ...the law grants law enforcement agencies the unchecked power to detain individuals without warrants and provides sweeping powers to the President, police, and military to arbitrarily ban gatherings and organizations without adequate judicial oversight.
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Hashtags: #SriLanka #CivilRights
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These sorts of laws never go well, so I hope that the protests make some progress.
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## 12:02 -- Mon 24 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110254628801743461)
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> I desire to welcome, in as warm terms as possible, the first serious attempt in English to deal with fairy mythology in a sufficiently wide induction of the facts.
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{% cite Joseph Jacobs %}
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Hashtags: #Quotes #ArabAmericanHeritage
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## 9:07 -- Tue 25 April 2023
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{% cw Jim Jordan's scandal(s) %}
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{% embed https://images.dailykos.com/images/1179879/story_image/GettyImages-1482826889.jpg?1681744510|Jim Jordan's face|true| %}
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110259602851206844) [New York Times whitewashes Jim Jordan's part in wrestling scandal](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/18/2164385/-New-York-Times-whitewashes-Jim-Jordan-s-part-in-wrestling-scandal) from Daily Kos
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> The Times seems considerably more interested in the idea that other Republicans are willing to say that Jordan’s committee hearings aren’t actually a garbage fire at all...
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Hashtags: #JimJordan #GOP #NYT
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At this point, I feel like the **Times** maintains a bare minimum of actual news to maintain its credibility, so that it can sink deeper and deeper into public relations for authoritarians.
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## 12:03 -- Tue 25 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110260294849976607)
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> Partnership for Peace is far more than a training program for entry into NATO. It is indeed an engagement strategy in every sense of the word. It ties together NATO and its Partners with common goals, training, and friendship.
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{% cite George Joulwan %}
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Hashtags: #Quotes #ArabAmericanHeritage
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## 9:06 -- Wed 26 April 2023
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{% embed https://images.theconversation.com/files/521344/original/file-20230417-974-akyh66.jpg|A person in a frilly blouse and jacket, safety glasses, and hair in a jeweled bun staring to the left into a wall of lights|false| %}
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110265261176163542) [AI has social consequences, but who pays the price? Tech companies’ problem with ‘ethical debt’](https://theconversation.com/ai-has-social-consequences-but-who-pays-the-price-tech-companies-problem-with-ethical-debt-203375) from The Conversation
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> By now, there have been countless examples of how AI can reproduce bias and exacerbate social inequities, but these problems are rarely publicly identified by tech companies themselves.
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Hashtags: #AI #ChatGPT #Ethics
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This article does overlook one critical idea: Who *pays* for this "ethical debt" differs dramatically from who pays for technical debt. When a company takes on technical debt, they "borrow" time from the future, taking an expedient path now that they'll need to put more effort into fixing later. When a company takes on ethical debt, however, they borrow time from the lives of people affected adversely by their product, which the public needs to put effort into making right.
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## 12:01 -- Wed 26 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110265949364871109)
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> There's a direct correlation, we've found, between the demonization of Saddam, and violent acts against Arab-Americans in this country.
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{% cite James Abourezk %}
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Hashtags: #Quotes #ArabAmericanHeritage
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## 8:02 -- Thu 27 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110270671723673451)
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> {% imgr A screenshot of a toot that reads 'Meow #cat' with a 'Translate' link.|meow-mastodon.png|Extremely insightful... %}
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>
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> I had a moment where I considered if this might represent a new #Mastodon feature.
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>
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> The translation, for the record, also said "Meow," but typeset slightly differently, so the feature may exist, and I don't understand the target (cat) language.
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OK, the original post had an image attacked, but I didn't want to identify anybody for such a silly observation.
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## 9:05 -- Thu 27 April 2023
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{% embed https://cdn2.opendemocracy.net/media/images/GettyImages-1194065655.max-760x504.jpg|Protesters at a Federalist Society gala diner in New York hold banners and placards with names of conservative judges endorsed by the group, 16 January 2020|true| %}
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110270919805163826) [Journalists are enabling extremism by ‘both-sides-ing’ free speech row](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/free-speech-stanford-law-school-kyle-duncan-controversy/) from openDemocracy
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> Stanford has been responding to concerns about political polarization in the US by pushing notions of “intellectual diversity”, which essentially means taking extraordinary measures to make conservatives feel more included.
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Hashtags: #FreeSpeech #BothSides
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I've grown extremely tired of the obsession with making sure that the right-wing can always have its say. Authoritarians have had literally thousands of years to make their case, and they haven't come up with anything new since the Middle Ages. While I see no reason to silence them, we also shouldn't coddle them when they feel sad that nobody wants to hear about their theories on gender or whatever.
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Notably, someone replied to this post *immediately*, to illustrate the point. I took one sentence out of the article out of context. This person picked out "conservatives" and "included," to demand that I explain why I would exclude conservatives. Why should I or anybody ever take such an "intellectual" movement seriously?
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## 12:06 -- Thu 27 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110271631449102149)
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> I'm not a scientist either, but I can use my brain, and I can talk to one.
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{% cite Charlie Crist %}
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Hashtags: #Quotes #ArabAmericanHeritage
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## 9:03 -- Fri 28 April 2023
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{% embed https://i0.wp.com/otherwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/shutterstock_316143422.jpg|A presumed parent working on charts from their couch, while a baby sleeps on a separate cushion|false| %}
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110276574189753918) [Don’t Shred the Safety Net — Expand It](https://otherwords.org/dont-shred-the-safety-net-expand-it/) from OtherWords
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> Conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill refused to renew the credit’s expansion, letting it expire in late 2021. Child poverty immediately increased.
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Hashtags: #ChildTaxCredit #SafetyNet
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It surprises me that media doesn't notice how much conservatives have started talking about ensuring that people need to work, which sounds suspiciously like forced labor. Gutting the social safety net makes up a big part of that process.
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## 12:05 -- Fri 28 April 2023
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[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110277290013042024)
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> What is good about the United States is the sense that you can disagree with the government and not be seen as unpatriotic, although many in the government will try to make you seem unpatriotic.
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{% cite George J. Mitchell %}
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Hashtags: #Quotes #ArabAmericanHeritage
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## Bonus
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Because it accidentally became a tradition early on in the life of the blog, I drop any additional articles that didn't fit into the one-article-per-day week, but too weird or important to not mention, here.
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{% embed https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/d814da8b-f283-4410-9667-5de7c142f4ec_BTG230414103621.jpg|A drawing of a Black woman sitting on a mattress while emptying a "sex tool box."|false| %}
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<i class="fas fa-square"></i> [Battling the heteronormativity of sexual health](https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/ZC08axQAANdrVsaO) from the Wellcome Collection
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> These expectations contradict and feed on each other. They don’t make sense because they’re not supposed to. They’re built on smoke and mirrors, racism, homophobia and transphobia.
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I don't have much exposure to this world, so it helps to find an occasional article laying out the situation.
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{% embed https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1598286987849-41663a539ff9|An elderly couple walks hand-in-hand through a parking lot|false|by Mark Timberlake, The participants whose cognition improved while walking showed that their brain was able to adapt to and improve at the task—it had flexible usage of certain frontal resources. %}
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<i class="fas fa-square"></i> [Is better brain performance when walking a sign of ‘super-aging’?](https://www.futurity.org/super-ager-brains-older-adults-2907042/) from Futurity
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> The participants whose cognition improved while walking showed that their brain was able to adapt to and improve at the task—it had flexible usage of certain frontal resources.
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This strikes me as interesting, and not only because it gives me some personal hope, since my mind tends to race when I go for walks.
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## Follow Me
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If you appreciate this sort of content, then you should probably [follow me <i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/) to get it as early as possible...and feel free to reply, at least to the good stuff.
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* * *
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**Credits**: Header image is [Circular diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CLM_14456_71r_detail.jpg) from a manuscript drafted during the Carolingian Dynasty.
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