I'm growing old and inactive

In the 80s I protested against the nuclear arms race, in the 90s I protested the war in Iraq, rallied to support gay rights, then in the 2000s protested the war in Iraq (again!)... but now I'm just happy if I can make it through the day without accidentally "replying all" to an email chain. It's like activism, but with fewer signs and more anxiety.

I Am Permanently Banned From Facebook

 About 4 years ago, a fellow Bernie Bro friend of mine on Facebook converted to Christianity.  His politics became topsy turvy, and he soon began posting about Satanists controlling government and Hillary Clinton operating a pedophile ring.  One year into the Trump Administration, he began sharing memes about "Qanon" ...what is Qanon you ask?

This video will make it clear:

Fascinated, I began following the Qanon conspiracy using a Twitter account and later a Facebook page using the name "Qanontum Entanglement." I would post (what I thought were) absurd memes, links and retweets that revealed that Qanon was nonsensical, but some true believers actually mistook my scorn for sincerity.  The Clintons and the Obamas were going to be sent to Guantanamo any day now, and mass arrests were coming soon.  

 

Last month Facebook decided to remove all accounts "representing" Qanon, due to the movement's unhinged promotion not only of violence, but misinformation about wildfires and child abuse, which wasted the time of peopled organizations actually trying to deal with these real problems.  As a result, my satirical page was disappeared, along with everything else I had ever posted on my personal page. Anything I had ever posted, any comment I had made on FB was removed. I later went on Instagram to explain to friends that overlapped both accounts what had happened, then that account was disabled as well. 

Had my Q related page really been a severe violation of Facebook's community standards? I don't believe so, but like many humans, Facebook's AI lacks a sarcasm detector.  Was I unfairly banned from the social media platform? Well nooooo...for years I had 2 accounts, which I believe is against Facebook policy. I used one for over a decade to post pictures of my kids, stay connected with family and old friends, and last spring used to be a co-administrator on a group for a preschool classroom.  Losing that account really affects me. 

I had my second page since 2011 and used it to comment on politics, which I would never do on my personal page due to all the abuse- mostly from strangers, but also from a few friends. When I dared to criticize Ron Paul's newsletter for including racist articles over the years, two Paulites began tagging me in posts announcing I was a neo-nazi. When I argued on a debate page about Medicare For All, one of my best friends from college swooped in and told me in a series of angry comments to eff off for not being sufficiently loyal to the centrist Democrat cause.  I probably am better off without that Facebook account. After all, now that Biden is president elect, everything will revert back to normal, right?

Triumph of der Trumpf

Coming Back on Wall Street

Churchill: "Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?" 

Socialite: "My goodness, Mr. Churchill... Well, I suppose... we would have to discuss terms, of course... "

Churchill: "Would you sleep with me for five pounds?"

Socialite: "Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!" 

Churchill: "Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price”

Less than two years ago former President Obama called income inequality the "defining challenge of our time" and called for an increase in the minimum wage. While president,  Mr. Obama earned a salary of $400,000 a year. Last month, Citizen Obama earned $400,000 for delivering a single speech to clients of the Northern Trust Corp., a private equity firm, with more speeches to Wall Street on the way. 

This latest development fits in with the former president's classic rags to riches American success story. It also means the end of Mr. Obama as a credible reformer of Big Finance or voice speaking out against the widening gap between rich and poor he frequently condemned during his presidency.

Take Back The Night

Way back in the eighties, I attended a planning meeting for a Take Back The Night rally.  I had been at the previous year's rally, but felt it was preaching to the choir. I came to the planning meeting armed with a few ideas, like reaching out to fraternities and sororities to be involved as co-sponsors, or have the college radio station play all female artists the day of the rally. I mentioned the ideas, but didn't follow up or try to persuade the small steering committee group (mostly "wimmen") to adopt them. It was later decided that no men would perform during the rally, so my friend who had an excellent anarcho-feminist-punk folk song entitled "Take Back The Night" wouldn't be allowed to sing it that evening due to his having the wrong sort of genitalia. I gave up trying to convince the young women of my media savvy and went to the rally late in a fit of passive aggression. The only thing I remember from that night were some idiots along the march who had a banner mentioning "Ayn Rand" and "Rape" stretched out in front of their apartment.

Since then I've come to realize that the event wasn't about persuading young men (and women) to reconsider their sexist attitudes or outdated views of male-female relations. The point wasn't to make a big media splash or even raise awareness by toning down the more strident atmosphere to make sorority or fraternity members feel more comfortable during such an event.  The type of expression and framing of ideas fit the needs and attitudes of the women who ran the event and had to live with the reality of sexism and sexual predators.  The event organizers and most likely the individuals attending the rally wouldn't be interested in my ideas because it didn't match their priorities or concerns.

Now 30 years later I have 3 daughters of my own who aren't interested in hearing me pontificate about sexuality or the way the world works. I talked my two 14 year olds into singing some reworked chants I remembered from years ago. "Wait a minute" said one as she scanned my scribbled lyrics. "Is this a rape song?"

  

Dueling Headlines

Headline #1 (from Nature)

Cloud formation may be linked to cosmic rays

Experiment probes connection between climate change and radiation bombarding the atmosphere.

Headline #2 (from Forbes) 

Sorry, But With Global Warming It's The Sun, Stupid

The lead author of the research referenced in both articles is quoted in Nature about the implications of the research for global warming: "At the moment, it actually says nothing about a possible cosmic-ray effect on clouds and climate, but it's a very important first step."

I am Holy Disappointed

I was a visitor at a Catholic service today. The sermon was delivered by a remarkable priest from Nigeria and was meant to be positive, but it still depressed me. He began by thanking the church and United States' generosity, then later recommended the wonderful restaurant McDonalds and the even more affordable soup kitchen a few blocks away. He praised America for being a nation blessed by God, admiring the "sea of drugs" in Walmart and CVS pharmacy when so many of his countrymen are sick and malnourished with no access to medical care. He condemned the "enemies" of the church such as the media for sensationalizing the pedophilia scandal and HIV crisis in Africa, and for not covering the persecution of Catholics by Islam in Nigeria. He went on to describe horror stories of the conditions in Africa, and how people are being shot or burned alive by Muslim fundamentalists while leaving church, and said of the church's enemies, "we are better than them."

I'm sure if I had even experienced a fraction of what this man had gone through, I would probably be even more hostile to Islam-but fortunately for me, I am not. I'm wary of any religious message that includes "we are better than you," or "this country is blessed by God," which logically means Nigeria must be cursed by God.

The comments I heard from others after the service were "he hit it out of the ball park" and "he spoke The Truth!" I'm sure the congregation was uplifted by his message - and donated generously to the second offering specifically for charity. One visitor to the church said she wanted to go home to get her check book so she could come back to the next service and donate more. A cynical thought occurred to me that the sermon, with its lavish praise of America, might be a well crafted fund raising appeal. Even if it was, there's nothing wrong with persuading people to donate money for good works. What bothers me is how this message would translate to another religious group or setting. Condemning another religion entirely as an enemy, dismissing reports of abuse that has happened in one's own religion, and claiming this one true denomination's people are better than everyone else is arrogance.

Conspiracy Theorists' Anonymous

If Only She Were Still Around

President Obama has been accused of being an extreme liberal and a socialist. Unfortunately he is neither. His description of his mother as a New Deal Democrat is one made by a Third Way pragmatist. It is affectionate but still has a touch of non-partisan dismissiveness of her liberal idealism.

One of the sleaziest aspects to the WND/birther conspiracy crazies are their attacks on Stanley Ann Dunham. How history will judge President Obama is uncertain, but the crackpots who spread rumors about his mother will be grouped along with the Klan and Neo-nazis for their desperate trash talk.

Out of Control