Reading

Exaggeration for the lose: "the worst memo in history"

I've recently added Robert Reich's substack to my collection of political blogs - so recently that I haven't yet redirected it to be filed into its own mailbox, as I generally do with anything political or otherwise high stress. I suspect this subscription won't last - too high frequency, and slightly lower quality than my two other overtly political blogs. But while I have it, I might as well post about its flaws, particularly the kind where I suspect it's giving the majority of its subscribers precisely what they want.

In this case, what Robert Reich is serving up is implausible hyperbole, in the form of what I'd call a clickbait heading, except that I and most of his other subscribers are emailed whole articles, so there's little point to clickbait.

In particular, it appears that on August 23, 1971, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. wrote a memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which Robert Reich deems to be the "worst memo in history". I believe that's Reich-speak for "I really don't like it" or maybe even "of all the memos I can remember right now, this is the one I like least".

It's vanishingly likely to have been the literal worst, even if there were an objective standard of badness - and flat out impossible for Reich or anyone else to be certain there had never been a worse one.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

facts of the day, courtesy of current book

Koalas have fingerprints; hairy-nose wombats do not.

Skin on fingers and toes wrinkle in water not because cells get saturated but as an autonomic nervous system function, which we have apparently known since at least 1935. An initial 2013 study found that people with wrinkled fingertips could pick up and move more wet marbles in a set time frame than people with dry skin; a 2014 study failed to replicate this, but there's more at the BBC including a 2020 replication. (The 2013 reference at least is buried in the BBC article.)

Holding a hot drink inclines us to view people as "emotionally warmer"; a heavier clipboard inclines us to believe the person whose CV it's displaying takes their work more seriously. Many other related fun facts over here.

(Book of the moment: Touch, David J. Linden.)

Mulligan

I slept ridiculously badly last night.

In one way this wasn't as bad as it might normally have been because today there was no lift club to get up for.

But in another way it was extra miserable because it meant that even when I did wake up I felt so awful that I wondered if I could join D's group of people going to the rugby (group stages of the Women's Rugby World Cup happening in Salford) this afternoon. After an hour lying down -- I didn't sleep but I tried to rest -- I felt enough better to go. I enjoyed the first half (except the score) but really flagged at halftime and was barely aware of the second half (beyond the howls of misery from the loud Scottish fans behind me, who screamed every minute or two about how awful the referring was even though they were winning the whole time).

When we got home I was so tired I tried again to sleep, couldn't do it. I'm now sick of my books and phone games and everything I use to pass the time when my insomnia is bad.

It feels like a real waste of a day, which makes the bank holiday weekend into just a regular weekend.

The weather has been cooler and the sun isn't shining; the light feels weird, it feels like the day never gets going properly. Day after day all week.

I hope very much that sleep is kinder to me tonight. But I don't feel tired now: I didn't do anything; I'm uncomfortably aware that I didn't manage to exercise more than the minimum this week when I'm trying to do more. And I'm not sure about the direction that circuits is taking under its new trainer; it's not working up a sweat in me in the same way.

So between that, a day on trains to and from London on Tuesday, not managing to go to the gym Thursday night when I really wanted to...it's been a whole week of blah (except Wednesday night it was fun to go see To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar which we'd never seen before and then have a lush meal afterwards, the first time in ages I actually felt like I ate too much but it was pleasant).

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Email Aliases

arlie mentioned in a post that Protonmail allows you to create email aliases to avoid spam. This also seems extremely useful for cases where someone extorts your email from you before giving you something you need, but you don't really want to hear from them afterwards.

Protonmail for the win; Washington Post for the lose

A few days ago, someone offered me a "free" article from the Washington Post (Wapo). Reading it required registering with Wapo, giving them a valid email address and responding to a message sent to that address.

The first unsolicited message from Wapo arrived the next day; the second showed up this morning.

Because I use Protonmail, it had offered me the option of creating an email alias just for Wapo. I had done so. Both unwanted messages arrived complete with a prominent label that they'd come from such an alias, and a button to use to disable the alias. I don't remember for sure, but I almost certainly attempted to unsubscribe from Wapo messages on receipt of their first spamvertisement. So today I clicked to disable this alias. Protonmail first sent another(?) unsubscription request on my behalf, then disabled the alias.

And that, boys and girls, is the reason I switched to Protonmail in the first place. The last time I tried to read this kind of "free" message, from some other well known media source, getting rid of the stream of unwanted messages was somewhat more difficult. The journal ignored unsubscription requests - or possibly merely had subscribed me to a bazillion different spam streams, each needing its own unsubscribe - and I wound up reporting them as spammers to my email provider, as well as teaching Mac Mail to send their messages straight to "junk".

This latest experience with modern business practices was much less painful.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

recurring posts

Philosophical Questions: Money

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Could societies exist without a way to transfer value (i.e. without money or a barter system)?

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Heat

The Truth About Caffeine, Dehydration, and Extreme Heat

As dangerous heat waves sweep the U.S., the CDC cautions against consuming caffeine. But not every expert is convinced the advice needs to be one-size-fits-all.
[---8<---]
"Don’t drink liquids that contain caffeine, alcohol, or large amounts of sugar — these actually cause you to lose more body fluid. Also, avoid very cold drinks because they can cause stomach cramps," the CDC wrote in its Extreme Heat guidance. It doubles down on this warning on its Heat and Your Health page, though with softer language, stating, "Consider limiting beverages high in sugars and sodium, caffeine, and alcohol, if possible."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Early Humans

Ancient fossil discovery in Ethiopia rewrites human origins

The fossils found in northeastern Ethiopia date between 2.6 to 2.8 million years ago and shed new light on human evolution.
In the deserts of Ethiopia, scientists uncovered fossils showing that early members of our genus Homo lived side by side with a newly identified species of Australopithecus nearly three million years ago. These finds challenge the old idea of a straight evolutionary ladder, revealing instead a tangled web of ancient relatives.

I'm surprised to find such far-flung relatives coexisting like that, but it's a happier image than today's lonely Homo.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Books

23 Must-Read Books About Hope That Inspire Change & Action

John Parsi, executive director of the Hope Center, says that while optimistic people see the glass as half full, hopeful people ask how they can fill the glass full.

“Hope requires a person to take responsibility for their wants and desires and take action in working towards them,” Parsi says.

So whether you’re looking to start, sustain, or complete something, we hope the books included in this list inspire you to take action and work towards whatever goals you have in front of you.

I am particularly charmed to see “The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear” edited by Paul Rogat Loeb because I've got a poem in that one, "Origami Emotion," from a couple decades ago.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Music

My Noise has a bunch of new soundscapes that you can play with.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is mostly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/22/26 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 8/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Entry tags:

[food] misc veg salad

The nature of veg box is that Vegetables for which I have no Plan... accumulate. Today's dinner took a bunch of said accumulated veg and made them salad-shaped, and it worked out well enough that I want a record as a reminder for future self that one can just Do This.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Follow Friday 8-22-25: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Summer 2025 A-I

These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Summer 2025. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers A-I.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

Highly active with multiple posts per day, daily posts, or too many to count easily
Active with (one, multiple, many) posts in (current or recent month)
Somewhat active (latest post within current year, not in last month or few)
Low traffic (latest post in previous year)
Dormant (latest post before previous year, but could be revived because membership is open and posting is open to all members or anyone)
Dead (not listed because there are no recent posts, plus membership and/or posting are moderated)
Note that some communities are only active during a limited time, or only have gather posts on a certain schedule.

Follow Friday 6-6-25: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Spring 2025 J-Z
Follow Friday 6-13-24: Hetalia
Follow Friday 6-20-25: Highlander
Follow Friday 6-27-25: Hiking
Follow Friday 7-4-25: Historical Fiction
Follow Friday 7-11-25: History
Follow Friday 7-18-25: Homestuck
Follow Friday 7-25-25: Horror
Follow Friday 8-1-25: House
Follow Friday 8-8-25: Icons
Follow Friday 8-15-25: Indie

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Today's Adventures

Today we visited several places in Tuscola.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

BL trip a success

In brief: book is the least I've been annoyed by any such book I have yet read, which is fairly impressive going, especially since the copy in the BL's collection is the first edition originally published in 2003 rather than the second edition updated in 2013; more notes possibly to follow (subject to reaching a decision about whether I want to hold out for getting my hands on a copy of the second edition before talking about it in public).

Entertainment: shortly after I finally settled myself down in my nice corner desk against a window with my back to the wall and a whole enclosed-in-glass booth between me and Any Other Readers... my watch buzzed to let me know that I'd just finished a Period Of High Stress. The high stress was, obviously, sitting quietly wedged into a corner on public transport while reading a relaxing book. I did know public transport was exhausting! I have been saying! I'm still kind of impressed at the watch Earnestly Informing Me, In Case I Didn't? Know? ~~and mildly regretting that I'm planning to do the same-ish again tomorrow, and also also I am reassessing A Lot of my wheelchair use in light of this...~~

Related entertainment: how much my hypervigilance kicked up when I returned from lunch to discover that neatly leaving my notebook and reading-book in a stack on my desk had not had sufficient inhibitory effect, and a Noisy Person had decided to sit diagonally across from me, in my Space, being Noisy. The amount I relaxed when they (temporarily) fucked off is another one for the "yep I can see how not leaving the house for over a year and then staying Hyper Local has added up to me looking much more functional" files...

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy and mild. :D

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/22/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

You know you need a vacation when...

We're going to be on vacation from the 16th to the 25 of September.

The other day I blocked this time out in my calendar. The most accessible way to do this involves inputting the start and end dates.

Today I was asked about a meeting for a random Tuesday in October and when I went to see whether or not I was free, I saw that whole day I was showing as "on leave." And the Monday before it. I'm not aware of any reason I'd have time off then!

Zooming out and every day was showing as on leave. Every day that month.

I investigated and, instead of making the vacation last until the 26th of September, I'd somehow gotten it to be the 26th of December.

My burned-out brain just wants an extra three months off, heh.

Entry tags:

Bob

Just had a dream that some old, fat Vietnam vet named Bob was talking somewhere about his service, and Trump was there. Bob soon veered off into talking about Trump and how Trump was a disgusting orange disgrace, that his "fake tan' was actually just some weird oily, stinky, sticky goo that came out of an animal's anal glands, and that even though he (Bob) was old and fat, at least he wasn't a disgusting blob of gristle and stinking shit like Trump. He was soon being forced out of the room by security, at Trump's command. When Bob left, everyone left in the room started chanting "Encore! Encore! Encore!" and wouldn't stop, so Trump got frustrated and left, unable to make whatever speech he wanted to make.

Entry tags:

dreams,
the mentals

Trying to reframe things

5am and I'm awake from bad dreams. My brain is being a jerk...

Or, it's tired, I've been pushing it too hard for too long. It's trying to take care of me. It's trying to identify potential threats and think about what to do about them.

It's not its fault that the "what if there's a tiger after me" adrenaline and cortisol-based hardware is the only response available to the "complicated family and memories and bullshit email job" emotions that the software is currently running.

I got back to sleep, yay, but I very convincingly dreamed witnessing an accident and having to accompany family members (D and his sister and then somehow V as well) to A&E. I had every detail: bad phone signal when calling 999, not being able to get an ambulance, waiting all day, seeing excellent and nice clinical staff who are very busy)... I stayed with D and knew to look away when they did something that I know in real life would freak me out.

We were just getting to leave, both of them patched up, when my alarm went off.

If I didn't have such a busy day, and a deadline that depended on me doing something not just today but first thing this morning, I might well have called in sick. I never do that, but I honestly felt like I'd just spent a long eight hours looking after severely injured loved ones. It felt unfair to have to go to work too right after that.

But I did.