My most inspiring newsletter

 The Marginalian

I save the bi-weekly issues of this newsletter if I don't have time to read it that day. Often I'm out of the house and only glimpse at the emails...deleting about half as not enough interest. They aren't spam any more, I've finally rid myself of them. But they are news about things I don't care about that day.

No matter what else, I always go back to the Marginalian and read some of the quotes...skim some. Sometimes I devour what's written about/by favorite authors...sometimes not. 

I have high regard for Maria Popova, the editor. She has a wonderful ability to see patterns where most of us completely miss them...connections of ideas mainly, from all that she's read and studied. It's a gift I have seldom seen, and never experienced so often in my own literary readings.

It's for me, like taking my favorite 3 authors (who they might be at any given moment) and asking them all to have a conversation on any topic. Then Ms. Popova weaves that conversation easily from their written works and presents it to us all.

OK, enough said. Except last (or maybe before last) Sunday's post recognized the 17th year of publication by sharing 17 life-learnings. Very insightful. Here're a few:

1. Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind. Cultivate that capacity for “negative capability.” We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our “opinions” based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that cultivating true conviction necessitates. We then go around asserting these donned opinions and clinging to them as anchors to our own reality. It’s enormously disorienting to simply say, “I don’t know.” But it’s infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right — even if that means changing your mind about a topic, an ideology, or, above all, yourself.

2. Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone. As Paul Graham observed, “prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like.” Those extrinsic motivators are fine and can feel life-affirming in the moment, but they ultimately don’t make it thrilling to get up in the morning and gratifying to go to sleep at night — and, in fact, they can often distract and detract from the things that do offer those deeper rewards.

3. Be generous. Be generous with your time and your resources and with giving credit and, especially, with your words. It’s so much easier to be a critic than a celebrator. Always remember there is a human being on the other end of every exchange and behind every cultural artifact being critiqued. To understand and be understood, those are among life’s greatest gifts, and every interaction is an opportunity to exchange them.

And something that's more seasonal and less Marginalian perhaps. 

1923 Life Magazine's version of a modern witch, by Frank Leyendecker

And another thing before I go...

--------------------------- 

Have you ever been confronted by a huge overlay screen, complete with sound, saying your Facebook Account has some link that's been hacked, so we've shut down Facebook and the Internet, and do not close your computer, just call this Microsoft number...? I now have had it happen twice. Funny it didn't cause any disruption on my phone's Facebook. So I finally found a way to shut down the laptop. 

I have a pretty darn powerful security and virus protecting program, so I figured it was itself a BOT, and I wasn't going to call their damn number. I shut down anyway, and when I started back up in Chrome, it was still going. Shut down again. This time do not pull up the previous links, and so far I'm ok. Haven't opened FB again though. I had been peacefully copying old photos of my grandchildren into the computer from FB. No way that would have triggered anything unless the photos had something attached to them on my daughter-in-laws' account. Anyway, I can look at FB on the phone for a while just fine.

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Happy trick-or-treating this chilly evening. Our little ghosts or goblins (how very few do those costumes these days) will meet on Church St. in Black Mountain where youngest start at 5, then older kids arrive around dusk. Lots of fun things and candy candy candy...a blocked off street right in downtown. I'll try to go, if it's not too cold and there's parking, and will share on "Living in Black Mountain" tomorrow.

Food Waste, Forest Bathing

 Katharine Hayhoe posted this last weekend about Food Waste

She said:

"Every year, a full third of the food produced on this planet is thrown out. That amounts to some 1 billion tons. And when it decays, all the wasted food that doesn’t make it to our tables – or does, then gets thrown out – generates about 8 percent of the world’s heat-trapping gases. That’s more than double the impact of all the flights in the world; and it’s lost calories and wasted money, too. "

"Project Drawdown recently released a new analysis ranking the top 20 high-impact climate actions households can take to cut their carbon footprint by up to 25 percent. Do you know what the number one action is? Reducing food waste!

Good news: 

"Is it possible to eliminate food waste through composting and recycling? South Korea says yes. They’ve virtually eliminated food waste thanks to a compulsory curbside composting program...." (see newsletter for more details)

"What about using that food to feed people who would otherwise go hungry? In Geneva, a nonprofit called Free-Go is putting fridges on streets that members of the public can use to share food..." including shops and restaurants... Last year, when the program only had one fridge, the program gave away some 3.2 tons of food. " (see newsletter for more details)

In the U.S., for-profit companies like Imperfect Foods and Ugly Food allow consumers to make sure they are buying perfectly good food that would otherwise be thrown out because it doesn’t look quite right. In Canada, non-profits like Food Stash in Vancouver, Rescue Food in the Prairies, and Second Harvest across the country collect and redistribute food free of charge that would otherwise go to a landfill. Many non-profits rely on volunteers.

Not So Good-news:

Climate change is affecting what you can find on the shelves of your local grocery store, too. This year, Peru, historically the world’s largest blueberry exporter, has exported less than half as many blueberries as last year, thanks to abnormally high temperatures during the growing season. Climate change is also cutting into orange juice supply.  (see newsletter for more details)

"...Tomatoes, too, will have trouble in a warming world... Growing regions for the savory fruit will likely need to shift to stave off a tomato crisis. " (see newsletter for more details)

"Many people may be surprised to know that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are reducing the nutritional content of food. Plants are growing bigger and faster but with the same amount of nutrients... this will exacerbate the malnutrition and lack of nutrients many already experience in low-income countries who’ve done the least to cause the problem. Once again, climate impacts are profoundly unfair." (see newsletter for more details)

What you can Do:

I’ve changed my own grocery shopping habits to reduce food waste...I now shop once or twice a week. I buy only what I need for meals over the next couple of days..." (see newsletter for more details)

You can compost your produce scraps..." (See below about curbside pickup of composts)

And if you live in the UK, you can use this website to locate a local “gleaning” group, which connects volunteers with local farmers to help harvest excess fruits and vegetables that would otherwise not be harvested." (see newsletter for more details)

In Boston...the city offers free curbside service: (found on Facebook)

And in Asheville NC, and now maybe in Black Mountain NC...Facebook has a site for CompostNow.org

I saw this truck in the parking lot at Whole Foods Grocery in Asheville this summer. Since then they advertised in Black Mountain on Facebook

And I will often just post the topic that Katharine Hayhoe has posted on my newsletter which I receive weekly from Talking Climate Newsletter

If you're at all interested in keeping track of more world-wide info on climate change, she's a great resouce.

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And in other news...NPR offered this:

Decades of research have shown that "forest bathing," a practice the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, is good for your health. It can improve your immune system, lower blood pressure and ease depression. Next time you need some self-care, try forest bathing with some of Life Kit's tips: 

 Set a good amount of time aside to surround yourself with trees.
 Move slowly and focus on lowering your heart rate. 
 Try meditating and paying attention to the scents of the forest. 

Increase school protections against active shooters

 An overwhelming majority of Americans want children to have active shooter drills in school, but a new NPR/Ipsos poll finds that they differ on how to conduct them, and what safety measures to invest in.

Both parents and the general public at large agree that gun violence is one of the top concerns around K-12 education, the poll found. But their views on how to approach the issue diverge starkly along party lines.

"You see this really deep partisan divide that has sort of crystallized here," Mallory Newall, a vice president at Ipsos, says. "On the type of investment and the type of priority that we should have when it comes to school safety."

The survey examined three different measures to keep children safe at schools: social and emotional measures, security measures, and training measures.

Partisan disagreement on how to improve school safety

Percentage of Republican and Democratic respondents who say K-12 schools should prioritize investing in each measure.

Republicans

Democrats

0%20%40%60%80%100%

Social and emotional measures, such as anti-bullying programming, social and self-awareness, mental health education or guidance counseling

38%

65%

Security measures, such as metal detectors, bulletproof glass, clear backpacks, security guards or school resource officers

60%

33%

Source: NPR/Ipsos poll of 1,304 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 5-11. The margin of error for the overall sample is 3.2 percentage points. For this question, respondents could only choose one answer.Credit: LA Johnson/NPR

According to the data, Democrats are more inclined (65% to 38%) to support investing in social and emotional measures to enhance school safety over expanded security measures. Respondents favored approaches like guidance counselors, anti-bullying campaigns, and increased mental health education. While those who identified as Republican strongly favored (60% vs. 30% of Democrats) expanded security measures, like metal detectors, bulletproof glass, and clear backpacks over social and emotional measures.

The third, less popular option, was whether they support investing in training measures: "So that's training teachers to carry guns," explains Newall.

"Very few Americans are aware of that happening in their community," she says. "And when you ask them if they support training teachers to carry guns in schools, about 4 in 10 Americans are in favor of that."

An overwhelming majority of Americans (roughly 80 percent) say they believe that active shooter drills in schools should be both evidence-based and age-appropriate. With that in mind, 63 percent said they want children to be required to participate in at least one active shooter drill each year.

Differences appear when it comes to how to conduct these drills.

In some schools around the country, administrators go for a realistic simulation, with some drills involving things like the simulated sound of gunshots, banging on classroom doors, or the use of fake blood.

Some other drills place more of an emphasis on a lockdown procedure: Shutting off lights, keeping students silent, and blocking classroom doors.

The poll asked parents and the public their views on these approaches. "A vast majority of parents, and American adults alike, are in favor of practicing basic lockdown procedures in schools, almost 9 in 10," Newall says. "However, as you get into ... the more graphic options, support drops."

Only about 1 in 3 Americans and parents say that they support the use of sounds of guns or gunshots during an active shooter drill in schools.

Amy Klinger, the founder and director of programs for the nonprofit Educators School Safety Network, says focusing on how to scare kids ignores the root of the problem.

"Rather than coming up with a comprehensive solution, we have said, 'If we only had more counselors, we would have no more shootings. If we only had no more guns, we would have no more shootings, if we only had everybody armed in school.' " But, she adds, "none of those things are correct."

Instead of focusing energy on realistic simulations, which she says can sometimes be traumatizing for students, her organization proposes moving to a more balanced approach to school safety: "For every dollar you spend on response, you spend equal amounts of time and effort on prevention."

Carla Nardoni agrees. "I definitely want both," she says.

At the end of the day, protecting the lives of students is not only a safety issue, but also a deeply emotional one, she adds. "I never, ever let my children leave the house without saying "I love you" and that's the reason why."

NPR October 25, 2023 

Some good news

Lots of links here to find some things that are good for us and others.

Celebrate good news

• The Supreme Court of the U.S. upholds the rights of whistleblowers.
• People seeking asylum in the U.S. can receive work permits that are valid for five years instead of the previous two-year limit.
• Half a million children and families who were inappropriately disenrolled from Medicaid and CHIP regain coverage.
• Laphonza Butler is sworn into the Senate, becoming the first Black lesbian to openly serve in Congress and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to represent CA in the Senate. 
• CA creates a statewide alert system to help locate and bring attention to missing Black children and young adults.
• CA’s high school students will learn about labor rights and protections.
• CT: LGBTQ people who use state health plans can now access equal fertility-related coverage to start a family.
• FL: A court rules that the state’s proposed redistricting plan violates the FL constitution.
• MI: Civil rights lawyer Susan DeClercq is confirmed as judge to the Eastern District, becoming the first person of East Asian descent to serve as a lifetime judge in the state.
• NJ’s pharmacies will offer over-the-counter birth control starting in early 2024.
• Chicago eliminates subminimum wage for tipped workers.
• Costco members can now access low-cost healthcare.
• Planned Parenthood Pasadena expands medication-abortion access for Californians through telehealth services.
• As part of their Make Our Voices Heard campaign, Immigrant ARC curates blog posts for current issues in immigration and associated legal services.
• Disney VFX workers vote to unionize with IATSE, becoming only the second-ever visual effects team to do so.
• Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman are awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work on research leading to the creation of mRNA vaccines.
• Mauritius decriminalizes same-sex relations.
• An alliance of 45 countries pledge to raise $12B to protect coral reefs.

Thanks

Just Good News from Americans of Conscience - October 27, 2023

Americans of Conscience

Yet another gun tragedy!!

OK guns kill people.

Guns in the hands of mentally unstable people, that is. 

But how do we find them ahead of their killing sprees? I'm following this development to catch Robert Card, as much as others are following the wars on the news. But this is something closer to home. It's in America for Heaven's Sake!!

NOTE: ADDED 10/27/23 at 10:25 am (was in comments, but it's better to be first thing you see...)

"A worldview that requires the government to work for the people, rather than handing power to individuals to impose their will on the majority, supports the idea of gun safety laws. Such laws are very popular: in April 2023 a Fox News poll showed that at least 80% of Americans want criminal background checks on gun buyers, better enforcement of existing gun laws, a 21-year age requirement for gun purchases, and mental health checks on gun buyers. Seventy-seven percent wanted a 30-day waiting period to buy a gun; 61% wanted to ban assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons.

"Those eager to dismantle the government have stood in the way of such measures, but the heartbreaking news out of Maine has changed at least one lawmaker’s stand. Representative Jared Golden (D-ME), who represents Maine’s conservative second district, which includes Lewiston, today apologized for his previous opposition to gun safety laws.

“'The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure, which is why I now call on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles like the one used by this sick perpetrator of this mass killing,' Golden said. "To the families who lost loved ones and to those who have been harmed, I ask forgiveness and support as I seek to put an end to these terrible shootings.'"
From Letters From an American

Giffords sent this email at 5:20 pm 10/27/23

In an interview with FOX News, new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said this in regards to the recent shootings in Lewiston, Maine:

“The problem is the human heart. It’s not guns, it’s not the weapons.”

Mike Johnson, we ask you these two questions:

Did the human heart kill eight people at a restaurant, and seven others at a bowling alley, within a matter of minutes?

Did the human heart injure dozens of other people at two separate locations, all in one night?

It’s the guns!

MAGA extremists will blame gun violence on anything but the problem itself: unfettered access to guns.

Why? Because protecting the gun lobby is their main priority.

We live in a country where extreme politicians would rather stand with the gun lobby than pass legislation that would save their constituents’ lives from gun violence.

Until our leaders listen to the vast majority of Americans to take meaningful, commonsense action on gun safety, more and more communities nationwide will join Lewiston and the countless other towns who have been ripped apart by the scourge of gun violence.

We know times like these are tremendously difficult, but now is the time we must turn our anger, frustration, and sadness into meaningful action. We cannot rest until our elected officials stand up and do what is right to end America’s gun violence epidemic.

--------------------------

Here's the first broadcast I heard on Oct. 26, published at 7 am about the killings in Lewiston ME.

From NPR HERE

"Here's what we're following:

• The suspect: A 40-year-old man, Robert Card, of Bowdoin, Maine, was named by police as the subject of the manhunt.
• Lockdown: Police have issued a shelter-in-place advisory as they search for an "armed and dangerous" gunman still at large.
• Victims: Eight of the 18 victims have been identified, but officials have yet to release their names as an investigation continues."

The President had already ordered Federal flags to fly at half staff in mourning for those killed.

----------------

Updated at 1:45 pm from NPR:

"The New York National Guard confirmed to NPR that the suspect in Wednesday's shootings, Robert Card, was removed from a military training camp in July after he was seen "behaving erratically."

Here's the full statement that was sent to NPR:

On July 16, 2023, leaders of the Army Reserve’s 3^rd Battalion, 304^th Infantry Regiment, which was billeted at the Camp Smith Training Site while training at the United States Military Academy, informed garrison staff that Army Reserve Sgt. 1^st Class Robert Card was behaving erratically. Out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted.

New York State Police responded and transported Card to Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for medical evaluation.

A spokesperson for the National Guard said he could not yet confirm what happened after Card was admitted for evaluation."

------------

Gabby Giffords, a former US Representative who has endured gun violence personally says:

"Including last night’s mass shooting in Maine, there have now been 565 mass shootings in the United States this year. 565 mass shootings in 299 days.

I wish that I could send this message to you and say that scenes and stories we've read last night and today are unthinkable or unimaginable.

I wish I could say it's hard to believe we're waking up to read stories of parents corralling their young children into corners to protect them, and others racing down a bowling alley and diving behind pins to escape gunfire. but it is neither unthinkable nor unimaginable.

We are all too familiar with these horrific scenes.

We will see parents in parking lots crying, desperate for information about their kids. We will see loved ones talk about how their lives are forever changed because of senseless violence enabled by weapons of war. We will keep reading about how gun violence is the number one cause of death for America's kids.

But we do not have to.

We can decide we have seen enough.

We do not have to accept these horrific acts of violence as routine, and we must never stop demanding that our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe.

My heart breaks for the Lewiston community, the victims, and the survivors. Earlier this week, I visited Uvalde and met with the families and survivors of that mass shooting.

I’m angry that yet another community has to experience this pain.

Our leaders must act."

Several other newsletters came in...Gavin Newsome is pushing for a Constitutional Ammendment.

Last night, a gunman with a history of mental illness and easy access to a weapon of war walked into a bowling alley and a bar, shot and killed 18 people and injured 13 others.

It was the 10th deadliest mass shooting in modern American history and the worst since the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last year.

And you want to know something else?

Literally hours before the shooting, the U.S. Senate voted to pass an amendment allowing veterans found mentally unfit to still be allowed access to guns.

You can't make this stuff up.

Listen, there are some issues in Washington, D.C. and states across the country that are tricky and tough to fix.

This one isn't.

The data is clear, and it is conclusive: states with strong gun laws — like California — have lower per-capita gun homicide and suicide rates. States with weak gun laws have higher gun homicide and suicide rates.

So if Congress won't act...

And if the courts prevent states like California from doing what has to be done to save lives...

Then we need a Constitutional Amendment to make our communities safer from gun violence.

My state — California — was the first to adopt a resolution calling for one. Now we need 33 more.

Will it be easy? Of course not.

But will it happen? I believe it will and that we are on the first ones on the right side of history.

I am committed to making sure similar resolutions are introduced, and passed, in more states across the country. If you think that is a fight worth fighting, I am asking for your help today:

Can you please use this link to contribute $3 to my Campaign for Democracy PAC? My promise to you is that we will put every dollar donated directly toward our work passing a Constitutional Amendment on guns.

 

Yay to strikes for fair pay...

 Whether the various workers' unions in the USA, or the latest strike by women in Iceland, the issue is that lots of people have again !!! been being underpaid for their skills and time working!

This strike, led by the female Prime Minister of Iceland, was a 24 hour strike for equal pay and to push for an end of gender-based violence. on Oct. 24, 2023.

"International humanitarian law must be upheld, the suffering has to stop now and humanity must prevail," Iceland Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said on X, formerly known as Twitter..."

"..Women earn about 21% less than men, according to the organizers, and lower wages in Iceland are most distinct among immigrant women, women who work in sanitation and with children, disabled people and elderly people.

This is the seventh time since 1975 that Icelandic women have gone on strike, though Tuesday marks the first 24-hour strike since then. More than 90% of women went on strike in 1975, which paved the way for Vigdís Finnbogadóttir to serve as the world's first elected female president, according to the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Other strikes happened in 1985, 2005, 2010, 2016 and 2018 to protest the gender pay gap and sexual violence and support the #MeToo movement.

"Their activism for equality has changed Icelandic society for the better and continues to do so today," Iceland President Guðni Jóhannesson said. 

Eliza Reid, an author and Jóhannesson's wife, referenced the 1975 strike in the out-of-office message she posted Tuesday.

"Almost half a century later, equality is still far from being achieved, hence this reminder," she said. "I will therefore not be responding to emails today. You can expect to hear from me tomorrow when I am back at work."

 I find it sad that women have had to do this 7 times, and the disparity continues. 

I always have wondered what would happen if all American women did a strike like this...