Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Getting through these stressful times

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” Spectre of the Corona and Iron Curtain Crossing images flood in 

   “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
~  Jim Rohn

Bloggers keep writing to me that the long night of extreme fascism is descending on the world, but what I’m seeing is the biggest popular revolt against authority in my lifetime . . . The world finally questions communist tactics and strategies used to infiltrate universities and movers and shares in ALP, Liberal, Republican and Democrat parties
China’s insightful observers and critics have accused the country of playing up its political system as superior in containing the virus and highlighting its role as a world leader, while ignoring early missteps including cover-up and disinformation in the initial stages of the outbreak in December.
Observers have also said the aggressive – and sometimes unprofessional and undiplomatic – remarks by Chinese diplomats in defending the county’s handling of the virus had led to fading sympathy for China. An article in Chinese state media suggesting the US and the world owed China “an apology and thanks” for its efforts against the pandemic did not improve perceptions.
China’s aggressive approach to coronavirus criticism ‘not working.’
Australian map of university and newsagencies looks similar MAP: Here are the Chinese ‘propaganda’ centers currently operating in the US. “Colleges continue to ignore these warnings” because money and influence."



China’s Plans to Win Control of the Global Order: The Chinese Communist Party leadership believe they are in the midst of an ‘intense, ideological struggle’ for survival and that to win they must defeat the West.

As Elie Wiesel screamed: We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.



During and Post Iron Curtain - THE LEFT IS WHAT IT ONCE LOATHED. 

Compare the current progressive view about civil liberties against the old liberal positions of the past.
Surveillance and spying on U.S. citizens? Remember liberal Senator Frank Church of Idaho and his 1975 post-Watergate select Senate investigative committee? It found the CIA, FBI, and NSA improperly over three decades had tapped into the phones of Americans, opened their mail, and worked with telecommunications companies to monitor the data of supposedly suspect politicians, actors, celebrities, and political activists. “Collusion” with the communists and the Russians was often the pretense to surveil American citizens.  
Consider Church either a bastion of civil liberties protection or a dangerous firebrand who weakened the CIA and FBI. But the point is that the Left’s position had once mostly been that the government’s unelected deep-state intelligence officers simply had too much power to trust.
Indeed, the ACLU was outraged at what the committee revealed. Church was deified as a liberal hero uncovering government abuse. About the worst thing a government could do, liberals reminded us, was to spy on its own citizens.

Why, it’s almost as if the word “liberal” was a giant stolen base itself 

  

Wait, Doesn’t Everyone Reread Their Favorite Books?
Turns out, no. But here are several reasons to reread, including missing your favorite characters: “I miss the them—miss their superegos, their relatable pride, their all-too-human folly. I especially miss the characters that, despite it all, win: they get the guy, they get the gold, they get the keys to the city.” – LitHub

Research: Arts Losses Of $6.8 Billion, Fears That Sector Won’t Recover


“In The Long Haul” draws on the painful financial aftermath of the 2008 recession. The report concludes that nonprofits can expect attendance, subscriptions, working capital and corporate giving not to return to pre-pandemic levels. Ever. – Art and Seek


Now More Than Ever: The Social Value Of The Arts


Beyond simply creating art for art’s sake, or for school credits, many of the young people I encountered are building social movements and creative projects around a different vision for our planet. And they are calling us in. This is an unprecedented moment for intergenerational justice and we need to seize it. – The Conversation

This Guy Got Hit By Lightning and Became a Concert Pianist Vice Don’t try simulating this at home
‘Weird as hell’: the Covid-19 patients who have symptoms for months Guardian
Is pandemic panic pushing us even faster to a “Black Mirror” government-tech domination of our lives? — until recently “public pushback was surging”, but then came COVID-19 
Charles Delmotte (NYU), The Case Against Tax Subsidies in Innovation Policy, 48 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. ___ (2021):
Intellectual property (IP) scholars propose replacing IP rights with tax subsidies for firms that invest in research and development (R&D). Economic models that presume full access to perfect information, and that assume the intentions of policymakers to be benevolent, serve as the meta-rationale for this policy. Based on developments in institutional economics, this article shows that information problems concerning the operationalization of tax subsidies in the IRC are insurmountable.

A two-year basic income experiment was carried out in Finland in 2017-2018. The evaluation study is now available. The register data on employment now cover both years of the experiment and a more thorough analysis has been made of the results of the survey. In addition, the interview-based survey of basic income recipients complements the overall picture.

Five Principles for Thinking Like a Futurist sets out principles that enable thinking about the future to allow us to imagine the future we
want to live in and how to get there.

The COVID-19 pandemic not only throws light on the world as it is, but opens windows to glimpse other possibilities. Only in hindsight will the contours of
the new world we’re entering become clear.



  • The Gracie Awards — given annually by The Alliance for Women in Media to recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment — have been announced. Here are the winners.
  • The Asian American Journalists Association put out a statement Wednesday showing support for CBS correspondent Weijia Jiang and other White House press reporters for “their fearless pursuit of answers, as they have consistently demonstrated in White House coronavirus briefings.”
  • NBC News science contributor and expert virologist Dr. Joseph Fair is in the hospital battling COVID-19. On Wednesday’s “NBC Nightly News,” Fair told anchor Lester Holt, “I’m on the other end of it, but not out of the woods yet.” He said he noticed symptoms after a recent flight to New Orleans. He said the flight was packed, but that he wore a mask and gloves and used wipes. He said, “But you know, obviously, you could still get it through your eyes.”

In a recent post we mentioned Evelyn Waugh’s appearance in a response to  Spectatorcompetition #3148-Selfie. This was set by Lucy Vickery in the 10,000th edition of the magazine:

‘Some famous painters are thought to have slipped small self-portraits into their work. What if a well-known novelist had done the same with an added minor character? You are invited to submit the resulting extract (up to 150 words and please specify the author).’

When the results of the competition were announced, the Waugh entry, alas, was not among the five winning entries. It did, however, receive what can fairly be described as an honorable mention by Lucy Vickery:

‘There were creditable Hemingway cameos […] and I enjoyed J C H Mounsey’s sketch of self-confessed misanthrope Evelyn Waugh, and Martin Hurst’s of the rather less self-aware Jeffrey Archer.’

After our reader/contributor Dave Lull contacted Mr Mounsey, he kindly agreed to our publication of his Waugh pastiche:

Presently another figure appeared. He was short and stout and wore a tweed suit in a rather noticeable check. He had a florid complexion and fierce blue eyes and seemed to be furious about something.
‘Where is my butler?’ he demanded, waving a walking stick.
The attendant stepped forward. ‘He is assisting Lord Brassock with his morning bath.’
The angry man considered this. ‘Oh. Well. If his lordship needs him .…’
‘Quite so,’ said the attendant. ‘If you will return to your room, I will call you when Mr Bossom reappears.’
‘Mr Wagg has been with us for many years,’ he said as the little man stumped off. ‘He is under the delusion that he has a large staff waiting on him. In fact, there is only myself, the other nurses won’t have anything to do with him.’
‘Why not?’ asked William.
‘Because he finds it so hard to be nice.’
(Evelyn Waugh)

Thanks to all concerned.



  Roy Peter Clark writes about how TV reporters are helping viewers get through these stressful times


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