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Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
December 13, 2021
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/the-incel-threat-5571/
In 2017, about six women were killed intentionally by people they knew — every hour. Of the 87,000 women killed that year, fewer than half were killed by strangers. Femicide takes different forms, and different concepts are used around the world. But while the differences between ‘femicide’ and ‘feminicidio’, for example, are not merely linguistic but also cultural, there is some agreement on significant key elements. Generally, femicide refers to ‘the killing of women and girls because they are females, i.e. because of their gender’. These killings result from unequal power structures rooted in ‘traditional’ gender roles, customs, and mindsets. And they are the tip of the iceberg in terms of gender-based violence against women and girls.
Given this dire state of affairs, it is painful to consider that some men are trying to justify their hate and violence against women. Shortly after a 22-year-old gunman murdered five people on the streets of Plymouth in the UK, news reports emerged linking him to the obscure, largely-online ‘incel’ movement. ‘Women are arrogant and entitled beyond belief’, the killer had posted on social media shortly before the attack, describing himself as ‘bitter and jealous’ and seemingly confirming his allegiance to the movement.
What are incels?
The incel ideology is based on the concept of involuntary celibacy — the idea that certain physical, biological, social, and mental characteristics prevent men from having access to some kind of sexual marketplace. That marketplace, they claim, is dominated by so-called ‘Chads’ and ‘Stacys’, who exclude incels from participating. The result is an embittered community of male forum-dwellers who perceive themselves as social outcasts and turn their ire primarily against women, but also men and romantic couples. Unlike most acts of femicide, many incels do not attack women they know — in line with broader terrorist targeting preferences, the victims are typically randomly selected.
On the complex domestic extremism and terrorism stage, incels occupy a curious space. They do not appear to pose the same threat as white supremacists or Salafi-jihadists, yet they inflame fear and intense discussion. And their often-bizarre creed transcends assumed ideological boundaries. A far-right extremist who attacked a synagogue and kebab shop in Germany, for instance, repeated several tropes common in incel chatrooms. But regardless of how we understand them ideologically, violent elements of the movement retain a threat of terrorism against Western communities.
snip
The incel threat
During the pandemic, the male supremacist movement has grown and radicalised. Now it's moving from chat groups offline — and becomes more violenthttps://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/the-incel-threat-5571/
In 2017, about six women were killed intentionally by people they knew — every hour. Of the 87,000 women killed that year, fewer than half were killed by strangers. Femicide takes different forms, and different concepts are used around the world. But while the differences between ‘femicide’ and ‘feminicidio’, for example, are not merely linguistic but also cultural, there is some agreement on significant key elements. Generally, femicide refers to ‘the killing of women and girls because they are females, i.e. because of their gender’. These killings result from unequal power structures rooted in ‘traditional’ gender roles, customs, and mindsets. And they are the tip of the iceberg in terms of gender-based violence against women and girls.
Given this dire state of affairs, it is painful to consider that some men are trying to justify their hate and violence against women. Shortly after a 22-year-old gunman murdered five people on the streets of Plymouth in the UK, news reports emerged linking him to the obscure, largely-online ‘incel’ movement. ‘Women are arrogant and entitled beyond belief’, the killer had posted on social media shortly before the attack, describing himself as ‘bitter and jealous’ and seemingly confirming his allegiance to the movement.
What are incels?
The incel ideology is based on the concept of involuntary celibacy — the idea that certain physical, biological, social, and mental characteristics prevent men from having access to some kind of sexual marketplace. That marketplace, they claim, is dominated by so-called ‘Chads’ and ‘Stacys’, who exclude incels from participating. The result is an embittered community of male forum-dwellers who perceive themselves as social outcasts and turn their ire primarily against women, but also men and romantic couples. Unlike most acts of femicide, many incels do not attack women they know — in line with broader terrorist targeting preferences, the victims are typically randomly selected.
On the complex domestic extremism and terrorism stage, incels occupy a curious space. They do not appear to pose the same threat as white supremacists or Salafi-jihadists, yet they inflame fear and intense discussion. And their often-bizarre creed transcends assumed ideological boundaries. A far-right extremist who attacked a synagogue and kebab shop in Germany, for instance, repeated several tropes common in incel chatrooms. But regardless of how we understand them ideologically, violent elements of the movement retain a threat of terrorism against Western communities.
snip
December 13, 2021
They are chanting, "Let's Go Brandon" from the church pews.
I somehow missed this
fucking assholes 
The Q-Anon crowd is at televangelist John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.
They are chanting, “Let’s Go Brandon” from the church pews.
https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1459699199931416581
December 13, 2021
It’s a carnivore’s world, and we’re just eating in it. In a fast-food landscape with mountains of burgers and fryers full of chicken, it’s tough for a vegetarian to grab quick eats on the cheap. Thankfully, all the major fast-food players, from McDonald’s to Bojangles', have enough worthy meat-free offerings to make up a full meal, and we’ve been kind enough to offer up a suggested order. We sure hope you like sides.
Important note: Many of the selections on this list are fried, which means there's no guarantee that they're not cooked in the same oil as non-veg items. If you're ordering at a fast-food spot, this is probably a risk you're already willing to take, but just know that if you are conscious of contamination, many of these suggestions will not work for you. You should probably just ask. Or say "screw it," because you're starving.
In-N-Out
Best order: Grilled cheese and Animal Style fries
If you’re fortunate enough to hit up an In-N-Out, it is your responsibility as a contributing member of society to order something Animal Style. In your case, dear herbivore, that means fries. While some people aren’t so stoked on these fries on their own, when you get them jazzed up with melted cheese, grilled onions, and a gluttonous pour of special sauce, that opinion becomes flat-out false. These honestly could probably constitute a whole meal, but just to be safe, also spring for a grilled cheese made up of American, lettuce, tomato, and that same sauce on a toasty bun.
Del Taco
Best order: Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito and a mini Cheddar quesadilla
Mexican fast-food joints really do cater to vegetarians best. Del Taco rolled out Beyond Meat tacos and burritos in 2019 and have not looked back. Again, your decision-making skills will be put to the test here, but you will take the challenge on with aplomb. The Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito is loaded with rice, beans, guacamole, pica de gallo, and crumbles of Beyond Meat and is surprisingly filling. The cheese quesadilla is an old reliable and exactly what you’d expect; plus, you can order a full-sizer if you’re feeling particularly famished.
Jack in the Box
Best order: Stuffed jalapeños and onion rings
Hit up the trusty sides section and go to town on some Cheddar-stuffed jalapeños that actually pack a little punch (there’s a buttermilk ranch sauce for the spice-averse) and panko-breaded onion rings that could actually pass for ones served at a sit-down fast-casual chain. If you’re part of Jack’s target audience (the "Munchie Meal" that's only served between 9pm and 5am says it all), these will surely satisfy while you watch the latest Planet Earth and slowly become one with your couch.
snip
The Best Vegetarian Meal at 24 Fast Food Chains
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-vegetarian-fast-food-itemsIt’s a carnivore’s world, and we’re just eating in it. In a fast-food landscape with mountains of burgers and fryers full of chicken, it’s tough for a vegetarian to grab quick eats on the cheap. Thankfully, all the major fast-food players, from McDonald’s to Bojangles', have enough worthy meat-free offerings to make up a full meal, and we’ve been kind enough to offer up a suggested order. We sure hope you like sides.
Important note: Many of the selections on this list are fried, which means there's no guarantee that they're not cooked in the same oil as non-veg items. If you're ordering at a fast-food spot, this is probably a risk you're already willing to take, but just know that if you are conscious of contamination, many of these suggestions will not work for you. You should probably just ask. Or say "screw it," because you're starving.
In-N-Out
Best order: Grilled cheese and Animal Style fries
If you’re fortunate enough to hit up an In-N-Out, it is your responsibility as a contributing member of society to order something Animal Style. In your case, dear herbivore, that means fries. While some people aren’t so stoked on these fries on their own, when you get them jazzed up with melted cheese, grilled onions, and a gluttonous pour of special sauce, that opinion becomes flat-out false. These honestly could probably constitute a whole meal, but just to be safe, also spring for a grilled cheese made up of American, lettuce, tomato, and that same sauce on a toasty bun.
Del Taco
Best order: Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito and a mini Cheddar quesadilla
Mexican fast-food joints really do cater to vegetarians best. Del Taco rolled out Beyond Meat tacos and burritos in 2019 and have not looked back. Again, your decision-making skills will be put to the test here, but you will take the challenge on with aplomb. The Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito is loaded with rice, beans, guacamole, pica de gallo, and crumbles of Beyond Meat and is surprisingly filling. The cheese quesadilla is an old reliable and exactly what you’d expect; plus, you can order a full-sizer if you’re feeling particularly famished.
Jack in the Box
Best order: Stuffed jalapeños and onion rings
Hit up the trusty sides section and go to town on some Cheddar-stuffed jalapeños that actually pack a little punch (there’s a buttermilk ranch sauce for the spice-averse) and panko-breaded onion rings that could actually pass for ones served at a sit-down fast-casual chain. If you’re part of Jack’s target audience (the "Munchie Meal" that's only served between 9pm and 5am says it all), these will surely satisfy while you watch the latest Planet Earth and slowly become one with your couch.
snip
December 12, 2021
The flood of Omicron news can be overwhelming. The endless data, anecdotes, and studies are hard enough to synthesize. But what makes the information even harder to parse is that so much evidence (i.e., what people are seeing) is intertwined with opinion (i.e., what people are hoping and fearing). To round up the week’s Omicron news, I wanted to write something that disentangled evidence and opinion, to help people make decisions right now—about travel, and school, and weddings, and funerals, and holidays—even though we’re dealing with lots of imperfect information. Consider this your highly imperfect guide to our highly imperfect understanding of Omicron.
1. THE SOUTH AFRICA DATA
Omicron is spreading really, really fast. New cases are rising faster than any previous wave in South Africa, even though the country already has widespread immunity from vaccines and a very large Delta wave. The estimated reproduction rate of Omicron is higher than anything the country has seen since the start of the pandemic.
So far, Omicron seems to be associated with less severe illness and fewer ICU admissions. Data from Gauteng province in South Africa show that the share of hospitalized patients with COVID who are in the ICU or on a ventilator is 50 to 70 percent lower than it was during the same stage of Delta. What’s more, the average hospital patient is being discharged faster than during the Delta wave. That’s according to data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases shared with the Financial Times. Doctors from the Tshwane District, at the epicentre of the Omicron wave, reported the same thing: The COVID-positive patients in their hospital were less likely to need oxygen support, and their time in the hospital was shorter than it was for patients during the Delta wave.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1468310562849308675
Anecdotally, a lot of South African doctors say they’re very concerned about reinfections but less panicked about severe illness. “We are seeing breakthrough infections of people who have been vaccinated, but the infections we’re seeing are very mild to moderate,” Richard Friedland, the CEO of a large private health-care network in South Africa, told Bloomberg. “It’s early, but I’m less panicked.” I wouldn’t put much stock in anecdotes. But these are from doctors on the front lines of the outbreak, and their assessments are backed up by the hard data.
snip
We Know a Lot More About Omicron Now: Here's how to think about all the emerging data.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/everything-about-omicron-cases-vaccines/620956/The flood of Omicron news can be overwhelming. The endless data, anecdotes, and studies are hard enough to synthesize. But what makes the information even harder to parse is that so much evidence (i.e., what people are seeing) is intertwined with opinion (i.e., what people are hoping and fearing). To round up the week’s Omicron news, I wanted to write something that disentangled evidence and opinion, to help people make decisions right now—about travel, and school, and weddings, and funerals, and holidays—even though we’re dealing with lots of imperfect information. Consider this your highly imperfect guide to our highly imperfect understanding of Omicron.
1. THE SOUTH AFRICA DATA
Omicron is spreading really, really fast. New cases are rising faster than any previous wave in South Africa, even though the country already has widespread immunity from vaccines and a very large Delta wave. The estimated reproduction rate of Omicron is higher than anything the country has seen since the start of the pandemic.
So far, Omicron seems to be associated with less severe illness and fewer ICU admissions. Data from Gauteng province in South Africa show that the share of hospitalized patients with COVID who are in the ICU or on a ventilator is 50 to 70 percent lower than it was during the same stage of Delta. What’s more, the average hospital patient is being discharged faster than during the Delta wave. That’s according to data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases shared with the Financial Times. Doctors from the Tshwane District, at the epicentre of the Omicron wave, reported the same thing: The COVID-positive patients in their hospital were less likely to need oxygen support, and their time in the hospital was shorter than it was for patients during the Delta wave.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1468310562849308675
Anecdotally, a lot of South African doctors say they’re very concerned about reinfections but less panicked about severe illness. “We are seeing breakthrough infections of people who have been vaccinated, but the infections we’re seeing are very mild to moderate,” Richard Friedland, the CEO of a large private health-care network in South Africa, told Bloomberg. “It’s early, but I’m less panicked.” I wouldn’t put much stock in anecdotes. But these are from doctors on the front lines of the outbreak, and their assessments are backed up by the hard data.
snip
December 12, 2021
Apocalypse Cam
If — or when — human civilization collapses, what will remain? Maybe parts of some cities. Or the Statue of Liberty, a la “Planet of the Apes.” Overall, though, there might not be a lot of evidence left behind about what humanity accomplished — or what resulted in its downfall. One team of researchers wants to change that. Their solution? A massive, indestructible box that’ll record scientific data to give future civilizations insight on how exactly humanity fell.
The project, dubbed Earth’s Black Box, will be an immense steel monolith installed in a remote location in Tasmania. It’s akin to the black boxes that are designed to survive airplane crashes and provide investigators valuable data on what led to the disaster — except on a planetary scale.
Indestructible Recorder
The project is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Tasmania, marketing agency Clemenger BBDO, and creative agency The Glue Society. The team is designing the box to record climate data such as atmospheric CO2 levels, sea temperatures, and energy consumption levels. It’ll also gather contextual information like news headlines and social media posts. “The idea is if the Earth does crash as a result of climate change, this indestructible recording device will be there for whoever’s left to learn from that,” Jim Curtis, the executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Outlive Humanity
The box itself will be made from three-inch-thick steel and cantilevered off granite. Inside will be a system of Internet-connected storage drives powered by solar panels on the box’s roof. “It’s built to outlive us all,” Jonathan Kneebone, cofounder of the Glue Society, told ABC. “If the worst does happen, just because the power grids go down, this thing will still be there.” The biggest issue for the team now is how to help future civilizations access the information it contains. After all, they’ll just find a mysterious monolith out in the middle of nowhere — and we know how that worked out for us already.
snip
READ MORE:
Earth is getting a black box to record our climate change actions, and it’s already started listening [Australia Broadcasting Corporation]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-12-06/climate-change-earth-black-box-recorder/100621778
More on doomsday boxes:
Oreo Built a Doomsday Vault to Protect Its Cookies from a Harmless Asteroid
https://futurism.com/the-byte/oreo-built-doomsday-vault-protect-cookies-harmless-asteroid
Scientists Are Building a "Black Box" to Record the End of Civilization
https://futurism.com/the-byte/earth-black-box-civilizationApocalypse Cam
If — or when — human civilization collapses, what will remain? Maybe parts of some cities. Or the Statue of Liberty, a la “Planet of the Apes.” Overall, though, there might not be a lot of evidence left behind about what humanity accomplished — or what resulted in its downfall. One team of researchers wants to change that. Their solution? A massive, indestructible box that’ll record scientific data to give future civilizations insight on how exactly humanity fell.
The project, dubbed Earth’s Black Box, will be an immense steel monolith installed in a remote location in Tasmania. It’s akin to the black boxes that are designed to survive airplane crashes and provide investigators valuable data on what led to the disaster — except on a planetary scale.
Indestructible Recorder
The project is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Tasmania, marketing agency Clemenger BBDO, and creative agency The Glue Society. The team is designing the box to record climate data such as atmospheric CO2 levels, sea temperatures, and energy consumption levels. It’ll also gather contextual information like news headlines and social media posts. “The idea is if the Earth does crash as a result of climate change, this indestructible recording device will be there for whoever’s left to learn from that,” Jim Curtis, the executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Outlive Humanity
The box itself will be made from three-inch-thick steel and cantilevered off granite. Inside will be a system of Internet-connected storage drives powered by solar panels on the box’s roof. “It’s built to outlive us all,” Jonathan Kneebone, cofounder of the Glue Society, told ABC. “If the worst does happen, just because the power grids go down, this thing will still be there.” The biggest issue for the team now is how to help future civilizations access the information it contains. After all, they’ll just find a mysterious monolith out in the middle of nowhere — and we know how that worked out for us already.
snip
READ MORE:
Earth is getting a black box to record our climate change actions, and it’s already started listening [Australia Broadcasting Corporation]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-12-06/climate-change-earth-black-box-recorder/100621778
More on doomsday boxes:
Oreo Built a Doomsday Vault to Protect Its Cookies from a Harmless Asteroid
https://futurism.com/the-byte/oreo-built-doomsday-vault-protect-cookies-harmless-asteroid
December 12, 2021
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/how-to-shop-and-cook-for-feast-of-the-seven-fishes
Baccalà & peppers
The first time I tried to recreate my mom’s lasagna in the United States, I felt sad. It was my freshman year of college in Boston, and to comfort that lingering—and inevitable—feeling of homesickness of the first few months, I had decided to treat myself with some authentic Italian flavors. I picked a Christmas classic in my family: lasagna. My lasagna would be like Proust’s madeleine. But it didn’t work. It was flavorful, but something was different, and it wasn’t as comforting as I had envisioned. Vicenza, Italy felt even more distant, and as the ragu scent faded out the open window, so did my memories of home. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I remembered my mom’s lasagna anymore, and I thought that maybe I should just abandon the mission.
When Daniel Paterna wrote his book, Feast of the Seven Fishes: A Brooklyn-Italian’s Recipes Celebrating Food and Family, he wanted to prevent just that—family traditions, and flavors, fading away. “At some point, you as a direct descendant are going to have to throw up your sleeves and dig in to carry on the tradition,” he says. “If you’re constantly relying on grandma and grandpa to carry these out, they just evaporate.” But he warns that expecting to recreate the exact flavors only begets disappointment. It took him many years to hone down his family’s torta di ricotta, a staple dessert in the Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner. The secret is to keep trying to master the family dishes year by year, and that’s enough for traditions to live on.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes—a Christmas Eve celebration that originated in Southern Italy—is a tradition in which seven different kinds of fish and seafood are served for dinner, ideally before midnight. Throughout the years, it found its way into Italian-American homes, and it is now a staple holiday tradition for many families of Italian descent in the United States.
Ironically, I had never heard of it before. Being born and raised in Italy, at the very least I should be familiar with anything that’s considered traditional. (To cut myself some slack, I quickly decided it was probably because I’m from the northeastern arm of the country, and it was not really a thing there.) But we do have our own mini-version that allegedly finds its roots in the Catholic Church. Simply stated, on Christmas Eve, you’re supposed to eat fish. Different Italian regions disagree on the “why”—some cite abstinence from “heavy meals” as a sign of respect, others quote ancient official church codes. With time, the religious aspect of it faded, but the tradition remained. Similarly, there isn’t a single way of looking at the meaning of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Paterna says the number seven can be traced back to religion, referring to the Seven Sacraments or the seven days of Creation. As for the fish, it is a symbol of Catholicism that’s been historically attributed to Jesus Christ and, in a broader sense, to life and abundance.
snip
How to Shop and Cook for Feast of the Seven Fishes
Chef Daniel Paterna shares tips for this Italian seafood spread on Christmas Eve.https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/how-to-shop-and-cook-for-feast-of-the-seven-fishes
Baccalà & peppers
The first time I tried to recreate my mom’s lasagna in the United States, I felt sad. It was my freshman year of college in Boston, and to comfort that lingering—and inevitable—feeling of homesickness of the first few months, I had decided to treat myself with some authentic Italian flavors. I picked a Christmas classic in my family: lasagna. My lasagna would be like Proust’s madeleine. But it didn’t work. It was flavorful, but something was different, and it wasn’t as comforting as I had envisioned. Vicenza, Italy felt even more distant, and as the ragu scent faded out the open window, so did my memories of home. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I remembered my mom’s lasagna anymore, and I thought that maybe I should just abandon the mission.
When Daniel Paterna wrote his book, Feast of the Seven Fishes: A Brooklyn-Italian’s Recipes Celebrating Food and Family, he wanted to prevent just that—family traditions, and flavors, fading away. “At some point, you as a direct descendant are going to have to throw up your sleeves and dig in to carry on the tradition,” he says. “If you’re constantly relying on grandma and grandpa to carry these out, they just evaporate.” But he warns that expecting to recreate the exact flavors only begets disappointment. It took him many years to hone down his family’s torta di ricotta, a staple dessert in the Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner. The secret is to keep trying to master the family dishes year by year, and that’s enough for traditions to live on.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes—a Christmas Eve celebration that originated in Southern Italy—is a tradition in which seven different kinds of fish and seafood are served for dinner, ideally before midnight. Throughout the years, it found its way into Italian-American homes, and it is now a staple holiday tradition for many families of Italian descent in the United States.
Ironically, I had never heard of it before. Being born and raised in Italy, at the very least I should be familiar with anything that’s considered traditional. (To cut myself some slack, I quickly decided it was probably because I’m from the northeastern arm of the country, and it was not really a thing there.) But we do have our own mini-version that allegedly finds its roots in the Catholic Church. Simply stated, on Christmas Eve, you’re supposed to eat fish. Different Italian regions disagree on the “why”—some cite abstinence from “heavy meals” as a sign of respect, others quote ancient official church codes. With time, the religious aspect of it faded, but the tradition remained. Similarly, there isn’t a single way of looking at the meaning of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Paterna says the number seven can be traced back to religion, referring to the Seven Sacraments or the seven days of Creation. As for the fish, it is a symbol of Catholicism that’s been historically attributed to Jesus Christ and, in a broader sense, to life and abundance.
snip
December 12, 2021
A year after the insurrection, I’m trying to imagine the death of American democracy. It’s somehow easier to picture the Earth blasted and bleached by global warming, or the human brain overtaken by the tyranny of artificial intelligence, than to foresee the end of our 250-year experiment in self-government. The usual scenarios are unconvincing. The country is not going to split into two hostile sections and fight a war of secession. No dictator will send his secret police to round up dissidents in the dead of night. Analogies like these bring the comfort of at least being familiar. Nothing has aided Donald Trump more than Americans’ failure of imagination. It’s essential to picture an unprecedented future so that what may seem impossible doesn’t become inevitable.
Before January 6, no one—including intelligence professionals—could have conceived of a president provoking his followers to smash up the Capitol. Even the rioters livestreaming in National Statuary Hall seemed stunned by what they were doing. The siege felt like a wild shot that could have been fatal. For a nanosecond, shocked politicians of both parties sang together from the hymnal of democracy. But the unity didn’t last. The past months have made it clear that the near miss was a warning shot. If the end comes, it will come through democracy itself. Here’s one way I imagine it could happen: In 2024, disputed election results in several states lead to tangled proceedings in courtrooms and legislatures.
The Republican Party’s long campaign of undermining faith in elections leaves voters on both sides deeply skeptical of any outcome they don’t like. When the next president is finally chosen by the Supreme Court or Congress, half the country explodes in rage. Protests soon turn violent, and the crowds are met with lethal force by the state, while instigators firebomb government buildings. Neighborhoods organize self-defense groups, and law-enforcement officers take sides or go home. Predominantly red or blue counties turn on political minorities. A family with a biden-harris sign has to abandon home on a rural road and flee to the nearest town. A blue militia sacks Trump National Golf Club Bedminster; a red militia storms Oberlin College. The new president takes power in a state of siege.
Few people would choose this path. It’s the kind of calamity into which fragile societies stumble when their leaders are reckless, selfish, and shortsighted. But some Americans actually long for an armed showdown. In an article for the Claremont Review of Books imagining how the cultural conflict between blue California and red Texas might play out, Michael Anton, a former Trump White House adviser, recently wrote:
snip
Are We Doomed? To head off the next insurrection, we'll need to practice envisioning the worst.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/imagine-death-american-democracy-trump-insurrection/620841/A year after the insurrection, I’m trying to imagine the death of American democracy. It’s somehow easier to picture the Earth blasted and bleached by global warming, or the human brain overtaken by the tyranny of artificial intelligence, than to foresee the end of our 250-year experiment in self-government. The usual scenarios are unconvincing. The country is not going to split into two hostile sections and fight a war of secession. No dictator will send his secret police to round up dissidents in the dead of night. Analogies like these bring the comfort of at least being familiar. Nothing has aided Donald Trump more than Americans’ failure of imagination. It’s essential to picture an unprecedented future so that what may seem impossible doesn’t become inevitable.
Before January 6, no one—including intelligence professionals—could have conceived of a president provoking his followers to smash up the Capitol. Even the rioters livestreaming in National Statuary Hall seemed stunned by what they were doing. The siege felt like a wild shot that could have been fatal. For a nanosecond, shocked politicians of both parties sang together from the hymnal of democracy. But the unity didn’t last. The past months have made it clear that the near miss was a warning shot. If the end comes, it will come through democracy itself. Here’s one way I imagine it could happen: In 2024, disputed election results in several states lead to tangled proceedings in courtrooms and legislatures.
The Republican Party’s long campaign of undermining faith in elections leaves voters on both sides deeply skeptical of any outcome they don’t like. When the next president is finally chosen by the Supreme Court or Congress, half the country explodes in rage. Protests soon turn violent, and the crowds are met with lethal force by the state, while instigators firebomb government buildings. Neighborhoods organize self-defense groups, and law-enforcement officers take sides or go home. Predominantly red or blue counties turn on political minorities. A family with a biden-harris sign has to abandon home on a rural road and flee to the nearest town. A blue militia sacks Trump National Golf Club Bedminster; a red militia storms Oberlin College. The new president takes power in a state of siege.
Few people would choose this path. It’s the kind of calamity into which fragile societies stumble when their leaders are reckless, selfish, and shortsighted. But some Americans actually long for an armed showdown. In an article for the Claremont Review of Books imagining how the cultural conflict between blue California and red Texas might play out, Michael Anton, a former Trump White House adviser, recently wrote:
snip
December 12, 2021
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/peter-van-agtmael-trump-rally-photo/620842/
At a Donald Trump rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on January 28, 2020, supporters turned to watch the president approach the podium. “I think it’s more interesting to look at the movement he created than at the man himself,” the photographer Peter van Agtmael says. He chose to capture the moment before the president’s entrance, as members of the audience held their own cameras aloft in anticipation.
This made “the intensity of the adulation for Trump,” stoked by upbeat music and raucous chants, the focus of the image. A year later, van Agtmael photographed the crowd that gathered outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “It felt like a culmination of what I’d seen,” he says.
A detail of the photograph (Peter van Agtmael / Magnum)
The Power of Trump's Magnetism in One Photo
Capturing the intensity of a crowd’s adulationhttps://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/peter-van-agtmael-trump-rally-photo/620842/
At a Donald Trump rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on January 28, 2020, supporters turned to watch the president approach the podium. “I think it’s more interesting to look at the movement he created than at the man himself,” the photographer Peter van Agtmael says. He chose to capture the moment before the president’s entrance, as members of the audience held their own cameras aloft in anticipation.
This made “the intensity of the adulation for Trump,” stoked by upbeat music and raucous chants, the focus of the image. A year later, van Agtmael photographed the crowd that gathered outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “It felt like a culmination of what I’d seen,” he says.
A detail of the photograph (Peter van Agtmael / Magnum)
December 11, 2021
Preventing 1984-style monitoring of workers requires a rebalancing of workplace power, based on fair legal regulation and human dignity.
https://socialeurope.eu/monitoring-of-workers-personal-data-via-entrance-control-systems
The monitoring of job applicants and workers, inside and outside the workplace—variously by computers, mobiles, artificial intelligence, video cameras and wearables, besides geolocation and identification methods—has become so much more common with the pandemic as to now constitute a regular part of working life. With the digital transformation, these practices lead to the processing of current, prospective and former workers’ personal data in a much less costly, but more intrusive, way than before.
In this context, the processing of personal data can be defined as any operation—collection, use, recording, erasure and storage—applied to any kind of information related to the applicant and worker. Yet it is in the employment relationship that the right to the protection of personal data is constantly violated. An equitable balance thus needs to be struck in the era of digitalisation, between the applicant’s and the worker’s rights to privacy and protection of their personal data and the employer’s economic and personal interests.
Electronic and biometric control systems
Among the monitoring practices frequently involved, employers resort to electronic and biometric systems for control of entrance or access, to register the times, frequency and security of workers entering and leaving the workplace. These control systems identify and record the areas of the workplace visited by workers during the day and how long they have been there.
Electronic systems perform control via a personal identification number (PIN) or magnetic or chip card (smart card). Such systems are versatile and practical for the employer but workers also use such cards, for identification and access to printers, photocopiers and vending machines, as a payment tool in the cafeteria or to determine for themselves when they enter and leave the workplace and record their working times.
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Monitoring of workers' personal data via entrance control systems
Preventing 1984-style monitoring of workers requires a rebalancing of workplace power, based on fair legal regulation and human dignity.
https://socialeurope.eu/monitoring-of-workers-personal-data-via-entrance-control-systems
The monitoring of job applicants and workers, inside and outside the workplace—variously by computers, mobiles, artificial intelligence, video cameras and wearables, besides geolocation and identification methods—has become so much more common with the pandemic as to now constitute a regular part of working life. With the digital transformation, these practices lead to the processing of current, prospective and former workers’ personal data in a much less costly, but more intrusive, way than before.
In this context, the processing of personal data can be defined as any operation—collection, use, recording, erasure and storage—applied to any kind of information related to the applicant and worker. Yet it is in the employment relationship that the right to the protection of personal data is constantly violated. An equitable balance thus needs to be struck in the era of digitalisation, between the applicant’s and the worker’s rights to privacy and protection of their personal data and the employer’s economic and personal interests.
Electronic and biometric control systems
Among the monitoring practices frequently involved, employers resort to electronic and biometric systems for control of entrance or access, to register the times, frequency and security of workers entering and leaving the workplace. These control systems identify and record the areas of the workplace visited by workers during the day and how long they have been there.
Electronic systems perform control via a personal identification number (PIN) or magnetic or chip card (smart card). Such systems are versatile and practical for the employer but workers also use such cards, for identification and access to printers, photocopiers and vending machines, as a payment tool in the cafeteria or to determine for themselves when they enter and leave the workplace and record their working times.
snip
December 11, 2021
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to turn away a challenge to Harvard University's admissions practices, which plaintiffs claim are discriminatory against Asian American applicants. In a court filing, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the justices to let stand a lower court ruling that sided against the challengers, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), in finding that Harvard’s admissions practices were lawful.
She argued that Harvard had demonstrated that its admissions satisfies the most rigorous constitutional scrutiny and that its use of race is "narrowly tailored" to its objective of promoting diversity on campus. The conservative-backed SFFA seeks to appeal its loss in the lower federal appeals court. In its petition to the justices, the group argued that White and Asian-American applicants are held to a higher academic standard than other students.
The group further argued that Asian-Americans are disadvantaged in the application process due to receiving lower "personal ratings" and are admitted at a lower rate than White applicants despite having higher test scores on average. Prelogar wrote that the argument of lower personal ratings was "factually and legally distinct" from the SFFA's challenge to Harvard's admissions process, in which the school has acknowledged that race is used as a "plus factor."
A federal judge ruled in 2019 that Harvard's admissions program did not unlawfully discriminate against Asian-Americans, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit later affirmed. As Prelogar wrote, the SFFA gave "no sound reason to grant review in light of these difficulties." The organization has also asked that the precedent set in the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of college admissions boards to factor in race to enhance diversity, be overturned.
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DOJ urges Supreme Court to reject Harvard affirmative action challenge
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/585029-doj-urges-supreme-court-to-reject-harvard-affirmative-actionThe Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to turn away a challenge to Harvard University's admissions practices, which plaintiffs claim are discriminatory against Asian American applicants. In a court filing, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the justices to let stand a lower court ruling that sided against the challengers, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), in finding that Harvard’s admissions practices were lawful.
She argued that Harvard had demonstrated that its admissions satisfies the most rigorous constitutional scrutiny and that its use of race is "narrowly tailored" to its objective of promoting diversity on campus. The conservative-backed SFFA seeks to appeal its loss in the lower federal appeals court. In its petition to the justices, the group argued that White and Asian-American applicants are held to a higher academic standard than other students.
The group further argued that Asian-Americans are disadvantaged in the application process due to receiving lower "personal ratings" and are admitted at a lower rate than White applicants despite having higher test scores on average. Prelogar wrote that the argument of lower personal ratings was "factually and legally distinct" from the SFFA's challenge to Harvard's admissions process, in which the school has acknowledged that race is used as a "plus factor."
A federal judge ruled in 2019 that Harvard's admissions program did not unlawfully discriminate against Asian-Americans, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit later affirmed. As Prelogar wrote, the SFFA gave "no sound reason to grant review in light of these difficulties." The organization has also asked that the precedent set in the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of college admissions boards to factor in race to enhance diversity, be overturned.
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