A story:
At its very best, Fox News makes its viewers mean and stupid.
Normally, however, it’s far worse. Often, Fox is an active menace to the health and safety of its viewers and everyone who could possibly come into contact with them. The spreading lies surrounding the pandemic is a fabulous example.
Imagine running a business that profits from sickness and death.
The Greek thinker Epictetus, like the other Stoics, believed that philosophy should be a firm and steady guide, moving one’s life in a positive and virtuous direction in which every moment counts. Memento mori–Remember that you will die.
What Epictetus said here lies at the core of Stoicism: don’t say it, do it.
This holds true whether life is good, or whether it’s the dystopian nightmare we find ourselves in today, where the wealthiest country in the history of humankind is teetering on the edge of authoritarianism, the rejection of science, and the establishment of white nationalism.
Giving up isn’t an option.
An old friend cites this report published shortly after the 2020 election by the Libertarian think-tank The CATO Institute and writes:
In 2006, Texas reported that unauthorized immigrants contributed $18 billion to the state economy, contributed $1.58 billion in taxes and received $1.16 billion in state services. (more…)
It’s possible that there is no single thing that would be better for this planet than the removal of right-wing strongman Jair Bolsonaro from the presidency of Brazil. His attempt to commandeer the military has the nation horrified, and what happens next is anyone’s guess.
The whole rest of the world would love to see him replaced by someone who has at least respect for the natural environment, especially if that respect means the preservation of the Amazon Rainforest.
Speaking of forests, above is another masterpiece from Italian artist Maurizio Rega.
Glenn Doty notes: Thank God. This could not be more critical. The only other thing that I could have asked is that the former members of the board be fully and deeply audited and if any bribery occurred (almost certain), then those members should be punished to the maximum level the law allows. But merely to have them unceremoniously booted out will suffice. Every day that we purge these people from our government, we inch towards becoming a country worthy of respect once again.
Maintaining a sense of humor through tense times is a must.
Here’s a guy reading a peer-reviewed paper on the effects of global warming on the ecosphere, which is doubtlessly very grim news, so his wife found a way to lighten the mood.
Honeybee Burger has an interesting business model: open a national chain of restaurants that offer only their proprietary plant-based burgers (along with fries, drinks, and desserts), i.e., no products containing beef, chicken or fish. Their pitch to investors is linked above.
They say, “Honeybee Burger is a 100% plant-based food company that is aiming to become an iconic national fast-food brand. Our mission is to help save the planet by getting more people to choose plant-based food over animal-based food by focusing on America’s most popular and iconic fast-food: burgers!” (more…)
For those who may not remember, Dr. Deborah Birx is the epidemiologist who, last fall, found herself in the unfortunate position of conducting an on-camera dialog with then-President Trump when he suggested that she should look into some perhaps “unconventional” treatments for COVID-19, including shining light into the patient’s lungs and somehow having the patients ingest liquid bleach. (more…)
Please check out at least the first few seconds of the video here.
While you’re smiling, realize that Iceland is actually a very good candidate for emigration if the United States loses its democracy. This looked like a real possibility just a couple of months ago, and we’re still not out of the woods. If the Supreme Court allows full-on voter suppression and the 14th and 15th Amendments become meaningless, our electoral process will be a simple formality that perpetuates the American oligarchy.
At that point, a great number of us will want to pack our bags and move to a country that still features a government of, by, and for the people, and again, Iceland is a fairly decent example.
Do you know what they did when some white collar criminals conspired to commit a massive fraud that crashed their economy, parallel to what happened here in 2008? They threw them in prison! That’s right, they didn’t let money and power push them around; they implemented real justice, as bizarre as that may seem to us here in the States.
Prime Minister since 2017, Katrín Jakobsdóttir is both a pacifist and a heavy-duty environmentalist. She could no more be elected here than she could fly to the moon in a kayak.
Lots of intelligent, well educated people–mostly English speaking, living in a decent level of harmony with one another. Sounds like a winner.
