A Few Things

Hello, Friends. How are you? How was your week? It was a good one at our house. Mostly regular, but one unusual thing was that on Tuesday morning, a local news team filmed us at the market, and then interviewed us in our home about why we love Normandy, and why we chose to move here from the Bay Area. It was a lot of fun!

We haven’t fully put together this house — because we don’t expect to live here too long and are putting our house energy into the remodel — but I did try to spiff up our rental for the interview. Hah! We haven’t seen the footage, but if we get a link, I’ll be sure to share it.

And now it’s the weekend! No big plans, but hopefully lots of email. : ) Let’s get to the link list. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share:

-Why? Why? Why would anyone think this is a good idea? The Trump administration removed millions of miles of streams and roughly half the country’s wetlands from federal protection. It’s the largest rollback of the Clean Water Act since the modern law was passed in 1972. What American is like Yay! about this?

A thousand free audiobooks you can download.

-Immigrant kids were tied to chairs with bags over their head as punishment for misbehaving in custody. Some peed themselves while tied to the chairs. This is how our country treats immigrant children.

-For centuries, scholars assumed that Greek myths about fierce warrior women called “Amazons” were just that — myths. But new archaeology confirms that Amazons were very much real — and they were actually Scythian nomads.

-Are you following Brexit news? This is the most helpful article I’ve found outlining the challenges with Brexit and trade.

-Is the Myers-Briggs personality test bunk?

-A handful of billionaires have now accumulated more money than the poorest five billion people on the planet. Women and girls come off worst putting in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work every day. (Don’t miss the related tweet below.)

-Fascinating peek into an afternoon of a Pawnbroker. (NYT)

-Neither half of all luxury condos in Manhattan are empty.

-Based on information like this, do you think this election will be free and fair?

-How McDonald’s infiltrated black America.

-I learned a ton from Peggy Orenstein’s Girls & Sex (see our discussion about it here), and now I want to read her new book, Boys & Sex.

Here are some tweets I saved for you:

Old English animal names.

-I see this a ton anytime I talk about the wealth gap — people can’t seem to comprehend the vast difference between the very wealthy (like Obama) and the megawealthy (like Gates). They are in different universes.

This job description is intense! (And yet, still doesn’t quite cover all the things expected of a mother on any given day.)

https://twitter.com/honeystaysuper/status/1220400903338905601

-I love following the Women’s Art Twitter account. I keep thinking about this piece, Pinned Shoes.

-A short thread on how Facebook’s political ad-checking system is actually being implemented. It’s…. really bad.

-As you’re watching the impeachment trial, don’t forget: A majority of the Senate represents only 18% of the population.

-Hah! He’s right. This kind of thing makes grownups gasp with delight.

-You can text SFMOMA and they’ll send you art.

Public libraries are radical.

https://twitter.com/AcevedoWrites/status/1218640720338259973

Thanks for all the excellent discussion this week! I really enjoyed it and love hearing your perspectives. I hope you have a marvelous weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

11 thoughts on “A Few Things”

  1. I so agree with libraries being radical spaces. I love them here in France, you’re always welcome, don’t have to do anything particular, you can just be and hang out. I lovetaking my son there, he’s under zero pressure!

    1. The mediateque in our town is SO GOOD. In addition to a great book collection, they always have interesting art exhibits, lectures, and cultural events. And it’s right by the schools, so kids spend time hanging out there. Plus, the building is gorgeous! We feel so lucky to have such a great library in such a little town.

  2. Shauna Huffaker

    Immigrant kids. This is a collective stain on us as a people. Cruelty for political points. I am so ashamed that we have let this happen and keep happening.

  3. Wow! So many good links this week.

    I do understand how people mix up the very-wealthy & mega-wealthy. The difference between the very-wealthy and the mega-wealthy in terms of *net worth* is by many magnitudes. However, based on lifestyle alone they are likely pretty similar, so I see how people fail to realize the differences in wealth.

    It reminds me a little but of the study that showed that after making roughly $75K (or equivalent based on different geographic regions), your general happiness plateaus, because you have your basic needs (and then some) met.

  4. So true about libraries! I often marvel that we have them at all. If we didn’t, and someone proposed them now in the US, I think they’d get laughed out of the room. Such a treasure!

    I have a fond memory as a kid of finding out the library had a 50 book limit and then proudly checking out a teetering stack of precisely that many picture books. And the thrill when I was old enough to get my *own* library card!

  5. It’s interesting that you have the link to libraries and to the mega wealthy in the same post.

    The man who called in the Pinkerton’s to break the strike of steel workers who wanted a five day work week? Andrew Carnegie.

    The origin of public libraries in the US? Andrew Carnegie.

    Andrew Carnegie with his obscene amounts of money is also the person who created TIAA-CREF to insure a pension for teachers.

    Strange world.

  6. I cried reading the article about immigrant children tied to chairs with bags over their heads. This kind of abuse will affect them the rest of their lives. This is so horrifying, awful, sad, and terrible. I hope the politicians promoting and allowing this all rot in hell. Besides continually calling our reps, does anyone have ideas about how to stop this?

  7. This isn’t snark at all, but a genuine question. I’ve read some of the pieces that have been around in the last couple of years, about care work, emotional labor, mental load, etc. I know these are separate things, but in a similar realm and all directed at the argument that women do a lot without being compensated. But what I haven’t seen in the little bit of reading I’ve done, is the answer to the question: is there a genuine argument that women should be paid for care work? Or is it just a philosophical debate intended to shed light on the issue of how much women do? As a wife, mother of two, and full-time school administrator, I’m 100% on board with men recognizing and working to share more of the load that women carry. But if there is actually an argument for women/people to be paid for care work, who are we saying should be doing the paying?? Where would that money come from?

    1. I wondered about that , too. I get it from a legal POV, with divorce settlements, etc. But I wonder about going down that road.

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