Automated updates: 2023-07-21

This commit is contained in:
John Colagioia 2023-07-21 18:00:06 -04:00
parent 8db38c6f6d
commit 83fe7083ba
1 changed files with 159 additions and 0 deletions

159
2023-07-21-week.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
---
layout: post
title: Toots 🐘 from 07/17 to 07/21
date: 2023-07-21 17:59:14-0400
categories:
tags: [linkdump, mastodon, socialmedia, week]
summary: Toots for the Week of July 17th, 2023
thumbnail: /blog/assets/CLM_14456_71r_detail.png
spell: Sima Ghaffarzadeh Pexels pachinko Shinseki Rabascal Voz
teaser: This week, we have suburban housing, boredom in solitude, resistance in Iran, horseshoe theory, Radio Caracas Radio, supporting farmers, the Taliban loving Twitter, and Disability pride.
proofed: true
---
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.
![diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week](/blog/assets/CLM_14456_71r_detail.png "Some champion eye-rolling, there.")
Also, I don't generally attach pictures to posts with quotations.
## 9:05 -- Mon 17 July 2023
{% embed https://images.theconversation.com/files/535644/original/file-20230704-21-62j51z.PNG|A satellite view shows Atherton's large properties, each of which could fit several home lots from a neighboring community, shown on the left.|false|via Google Earth, under a poorly-worded license that implies something like CC-BY %}
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110729566665813574) [How small wealthy suburbs contribute to regional housing problems](https://theconversation.com/how-small-wealthy-suburbs-contribute-to-regional-housing-problems-209020) from The Conversation
> Even new “luxury” apartments or condos can reduce competition for older units, taking some pressure off rents for people with lower incomes.
Hashtags: #Housing #Inequality
I always feel torn, because I can't imagine not living in suburbs, because I value the quiet and privacy. However, they do tend towards the destructive.
## 12:04 -- Mon 17 July 2023
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110730271402344549)
> Distinguished personages, who, from the solid and dignified outward appearance they showed to the eyes of the world, would give you the impression that they had never entertained a foolish fancy, or mistaken the shadow for the substance in all their lives...
{% cite Morrison Heady %}
Hashtags: #Quotes #DisabilityPride
## 9:03 -- Tue 18 July 2023
{% embed https://www.futurity.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/creative_people_idle_time_1600.jpg|A person in a speculative pose, looking up and to the right, against a green backdrop|false| %}
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110735221428049378) [Creative people are less likely to feel bored in solitude](https://www.futurity.org/creative-people-idle-time-2941092-2/) from Futurity
> The first experiment also found that creative people were more engaged in their thoughts when they were left alone without distractions, such as cell phone and internet.
Hashtags: #Creativity #Boredom
This feels like it should interest at least some readers, though I don't have much to say about it.
## 12:01 -- Tue 18 July 2023
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110735922533040438)
> The ebbing tide carries afar the ships freighted with aching, anguished hearts; when borne upon the swell of the flowing sea, come the swift sails of Argosies richly laden with hope, full with fruition.
{% cite Mary L. Day %}
Hashtags: #Quotes #DisabilityPride
## 9:04 -- Wed 19 July 2023
{% embed https://globalvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/pexels-sima-ghaffarzadeh-14030251-1200x675.jpg|A protest against the Iranian government in Vancouver, BC, Canada|false|https://www.pexels.com/photo/solidarity-with-people-of-iran-14030251/ by Sima Ghaffarzadeh, under the Pexels license %}
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110740887495679148) [As resistance in Iran continues, the regime strikes back](https://globalvoices.org/2023/07/11/as-resistance-in-iran-continues-the-regime-strikes-back/) from Global Voices
> The escalation of armed repression has been coupled with a surge of repression inside the country's prison system, as the regime resorts to executing prisoners in its relentless campaign to stamp out resistance.
Hashtags: #Iran
I keep telling you all that the authoritarian emperors have no clothes. They'll go out of their way to hurt as many people as they can as they implode, but in the end, authoritarians *only* have violence to maintain their rule, and once the population stands up to them despite the threats of violence, they have nothing left of use.
## 12:03 -- Wed 19 July 2023
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110741591235047124)
> We have a part of our party that's really driving the agenda. And we need more voices like mine, like yours in that Democratic caucus, and so our work is cut-out for us.
{% cite Donna Edwards %}
Hashtags: #Quotes #DisabilityPride
## 9:01 -- Thu 20 July 2023
{% cw US Politics %}
{% embed https://images.dailykos.com/images/1138954/story_image/GettyImages-1228159554.jpg?1669832524|QAnon protestors fly a flag and hold up pamphlets|true| %}
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110746538283102378) [The Horseshoe theory of politics meets the Q and woo crowd](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/11/2180479/-The-Horseshoe-theory-of-politics-meets-the-Q-and-woo-crowd) from Daily Kos
> Thing is, this woo sound bath practitioner is a lovely person who would likely be happy to hang a “hate has no home here” sign on her lawn while unironically buying into antisemitic Rothschild conspiracy theories.
Hashtags: #QAnon #HorseshoeTheory
I've probably written about this before, and always mean to write a full blog post on it with maybe some actual research beyond my memories, but this reminds me a lot of the world of New Age bookshops in the 1980s and 1990s. Conversations---which I witnessed, because I had a parent who frequented the places---would start with some unscientific but largely harmless sales pitch about using crystals and meditation to heal, but would quickly get into cultural misappropriation and a rogue government keeping critical secrets from Americans, by the time that you got to the UFO side of the shop, overt racism where "good" aliens look like giant Swedes and the bad aliens happen to also figure into anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Along the way, you get magic (or aliens) helping non-white folks stack blocks.
I sometimes wonder how much of an effect this culture had on politics, because it often *feels* like how we all live our lives, these days. Every oddball idea bounces down a pachinko board until it either bounces completely out of the machine or lands in a right-wing rat's nest...
## 12:06 -- Thu 20 July 2023
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110747265743022874)
> If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more.
{% cite Eric Shinseki %}
Hashtags: #Quotes #DisabilityPride
## 9:07 -- Fri 21 July 2023
{% embed https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-0a00-0242-1bda-08db796812ca_cx0_cy6_cw0_w1023_r1_s.jpeg|A studio of Radio Caracas Radio (RCR)|false|Adriana Nunez Rabascal, Voz de America %}
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i>](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110752223866902871) [Venezuelas Oldest Radio Station Falls Silent](https://www.voanews.com/a/venezuela-s-oldest-radio-station-falls-silent/7177447.html) from Voice of America
> The station since April 2019 had been broadcasting via YouTube after the telecommunications regulatory agency closed down its signal, without providing a reason.
Hashtags: #Venezuela
I admittedly have never heard of RCR, but it still saddens me when these sorts of initiatives fail for such pointless reasons.
## 12:07 -- Fri 21 July 2023
[<i class="fab fa-mastodon"></i> Quoted on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jcolag/110752931987331157)
> Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow.
{% cite Helen Keller %}
Hashtags: #Quotes #DisabilityPride
## Bonus
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.
{% embed https://i0.wp.com/otherwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/shutterstock_1120676792.jpg|A farmer's hands working with a leafy-green vegetable|false| %}
<i class="fas fa-square"></i> [Cultivating the Next Crop of Americas Farmers](https://otherwords.org/cultivating-the-next-crop-of-americas-farmers/) from OtherWords
> The federal government spends billions every year on farm subsidies, but most of the money goes to the largest and wealthiest operators. And because of systemic racism, Black and Indigenous farmers have faced particular difficulty in accessing these funds.
We absolutely need to fix this, if only because the last few years have taught us all that we shouldn't trust large companies to act in anybody's best interests. They all stand *one* temper tantrum away from a billionaire buying them out and decide to charge for continuing the parts of the business that make the company successful.
{% embed https://video-images.vice.com/articles/64ac4fe401226a277806d7e3/lede/1689014495884-gettyimages-1237950433.jpeg|A presumed member of the Taliban at a press conference|false| %}
<i class="fas fa-square"></i> [Taliban Endorses Twitter Over Threads](https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgwg9n/taliban-endorses-twitter-over-threads) from VICE
> “Twitter has two important advantages over other social media platforms. The first privilege is the freedom of speech. The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter. Twitter doesn't have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it.”
Does this surprise anybody? The religion of right-wing movements affects almost nothing about their behavior: They all love Twitter, because they have a reputation---enhanced under new management---of not policing authoritarians and their lackeys.
## Follow Me
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.
* * *
**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.