Consistency, people.

Listen up, fellow progressives.  This is important.


One thing we do very well is to call out the hypocrisy of the Christian Right.  And believe me, there's enough hypocrisy to keep us busy for years.  They call themselves "pro-life", but have no interest in helping poor children beyond making sure they pop out of the womb.  They feel free to judge the morals of any Democrat in office, but voted for a three times married, admitted adulterer who bragged about getting away with sexual assault, makes fun of the handicapped, and calls women "fat pigs".  They claim they are persecuted just because Americans have finally  had enough of their bullying and are enacting laws to keep them from continuing doing so.  And, we SHOULD keep calling them out.

But, when I get 20 likes on Facebook when I post about Christian bakers refusing to bake cakes for same sex weddings, 20 likes when I post about terrorist White Supremacist groups, but, consistently, maybe 2 likes when I post about terrorist attacks committed by radical Muslims, we have a problem. When I post about the slaughter and detainment of LGBTQ people in Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim region, I hear crickets.  When I post about oppression of women in counties with a majority Muslim population, I could hear a pin drop. Religious extremism by ANY population is evil, and I am consistent in my condemnation of it. I don't care if you are distorting Christianity, Islam, or anything else. Hurting people in the name of religious ideology needs to be called out and condemned.


I know my fellow Progressives are opposed to everything ISIS stands for.  I know that an attack on innocent young girls at an Ariana Grande concert horrifies us as much as it does the Right.  It's evil and disturbing, and we're all gutted when these attacks happen.  Yet, we are in this awkward space where many of us are uncomfortable knowing what to say and how much to say. Guys- when we expend more energy condemning bakers for not baking cakes for gay people than we do condemning Chechnyans for actually putting gay men in concentration camps, we're giving the Right unnecessary fuel against us.  And the only reason that I and others with whom I've spoken can come up with for keeping tight-lipped is that WE DON'T WANT TO SOUND LIKE "THEM". We don't want to be mistaken for irrational, hypocritical Christian Islamophobes. When we do post our condemnation, we are very careful to take up as much space with a #notallmuslims disclaimer as we do with our outrage.


Guys- we cannot  call out Christian Conservatives for having selective outrage- for making a big fuss about every Muslim who shoots someone while not talking about Dylann Roof, if we are doing the same thing in reverse. When we do so, when we stay silent about Radical Islamic terrorism, we alienate potential voters.  And, we're morally wrong to do so.  We recognize that ISIS does not represent the views of the vast majority of Muslims.  ISIS is a terrorist organization and is not what Islam stands for.  We are not Islamophobic.  We need to not let our worry of "sounding like THEM" keep us from being intellectually and morally consistent.  That's what THEY do.  We are supposed to be more logical, more consistent,  more self-aware.  That's how we bill ourselves.  We are supposed to decry extremism and oppression in the name of religion.  So, when we point out cake refusal and stay silent when gay Chechnyan men are slaughtered and placed in concentration camps, it makes us look just as hypocritical as the Christian Right.  We need to be brave enough to speak with equal outrage about all oppression, bigotry, and violence done in the name of ANYONE's God.  Who cares if our well intentioned condemnation is mistaken for some kind of prejudice about a particular religion? Right is right.


I am particularly struck by what occurred in Manchester last night. I have an 11 year old daughter who loves Ariana Grande.  When I see pictures of the devastated, terrified girls running out of the arena- when I think of those who were slaughtered, it hits me hard.  That could have been my daughter. Yes, the odds that any one person will be a victim of a terrorist attack are ridiculously low, compared to their odds of dying from illness, dying in a car accident, or being shot by someone they actually know, and I refuse to walk around in this world being afraid of terrorism- that's what the terrorists want, but the odds are scant comfort to the families affected by last night's terror attack. I know we all agree, but we have to learn to be as comfortable speaking out about this kind of violence as we are calling out our own homegrown Christian Right extremists.


(PS- random nature image inserted because Blogger just makes random images from previous posts your thumbnail.)

HB 2- What it REALLY is and how people have been duped.

Disclaimer- due to my status as a state employee, I must state that:
A.  These opinions are solely my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employing institution.
B. I am speaking as a private citizen of North Carolina, and not as a state employee.
C.  I have removed my employment information from Facebook, so that there will be no question about the fact that I am not speaking in my role as a state employee or for my employer.
D. I will refrain from using official state equipment when speaking of anything related to our state legislature or our state government, and I will only post about state issues outside of work time and from my own devices.


Now that I have the disclaimer out of the way...


For those who are not yet familiar with House Bill 2 (HB 2), it is often referred to as the "Bathroom Bill".  Here is the background. Last February, Charlotte, NC, passed an ordinance expanding North Carolina's antidiscrimination laws so that the LGBTQ community would be granted protection in places of "public accommodation".  Among other things, this ordinance would allow transgender people to use the bathrooms of the gender they identify with, as of April 1. In a sneaky, underhanded move, North Carolina's General Assembly proposed and passed  HB 2 in a one-day, specially convened session, leaving legislators who are out of the loop mere hours to actually read the entire bill.  This bill made it illegal for any cities to expand upon state laws and, in fact, requires all people to use the bathrooms for the gender listed on their birth certificate.


Now, many are solely focusing on the lightning rod issue of transgender people and the bathrooms they use when, in fact, this portion of the bill is really a Trojan horse that ushers in the ability to discriminate against virtually any group of people, and disallows victims of discrimination to sue their employers in NC courts. The law limits how people pursue claims of discrimination because of race, religion, color, national origin, biological sex or handicap in state courts. The law also means a city or county cannot set a minimum wage standard for private employers. Even veterans are affected by HB 2.  Orange County, for example, had an ordinance against discriminating against people with veteran status.  Now this ordinance is overturned. But because this bill was rushed through and signed by Governor McCrory in a single day, and because the focus on bathrooms is so controversial, many supporters of this bill have not bothered to inform themselves of the full impact of this law.  Even conservative Christians, who, by and large, favor this bill, could find themselves impacted by it.  If I employ you and I decide I do not like your Christianity and political orientation, I can fire you in three seconds flat, and you will not be able to sue me in a NC court.  And there is no way that the proposers of this bill did not know what they were doing.  In pandering to the prejudices of the Right, they were able to sneak in everything but the kitchen sink, knowing that conservative Christians would be too busy cheering that "traditional family values won" that they would fail to pay attention to the scope of what was passed.


But, for a moment, I want to focus on the part of the bill that has generated so much controversy- the "bathroom business".  This bill is completely ridiculous and causes more problems than it solves.


To decide if a proposed bill is needed, there are several questions that must be answered.


1.  Does this bill address an actual problem/need? 


Unless NC is overrun with an epidemic of transgender people flapping their genitalia in the faces of children and others, this bill proposes a "solution" to a problem that does not exist.  As it stands, you and I pee next to transgender people on a regular basis, blissfully unaware.  In fact, transgender people usually dread having to use public restrooms altogether, and try to slip in and out as unobtrusively as possible. Why?  Because violent acts against transgender people are common, because they would prefer to not draw negative attention, etc.  The odds that a pre-op trans woman, for example, will waltz into a public restroom and waggle male genitalia around in front of occupants is next to zilch.  If someone actually does this- trust me- they are not transgender.  They are most likely a mentally unstable perv and there are already laws that address that.  Unless you regularly peer under the bathroom stalls, which would make YOU a perv, you will never know you are peeing next to a transgender person. So, with all the problems North Carolina is facing, this is not one of them.


2.  Will this bill solve the supposed problem, or make things worse?

Well.. let's see.  Now that people will be required to use the restroom of their birth gender, here are a couple of folks you'll see in the ladies' room.

These are both transgender males who were born females.  They would now be required to use the ladies' room.  Now, let's say you are a conservative Christian woman who supports HB 2.  Are you going to tell me that you will be absolutely thrilled that these two people will now be using your bathroom instead of the men's room?  Are you going to tell me that you feel more comfortable with these two in the stalls next to you, or would you feel more comfortable using the restroom next to a transgender female who completely passes?  I'm going to call BS on you if you say you would want these 100% masculine appearing men in your bathroom.  And I'm also going to assume that most of these small town, ultra- conservative sheltered people who support this bill did not have a clue how many transgender people can completely pass as the gender with which they identify.  Conservative Christian woman- how would your husband feel about these two people entering the bathroom while you are in there with a 6 year old daughter?  Hmmmmm?  So, does this bill actually make things better for you?  Or would you run out of the room screaming? If so, what is security supposed to do?  Force the person to show their genitalia?  Is security or the police going to leave their post to drive the person home and see their birth certificate? And, if so, the birth certificate will show that these people are doing what the law said they are supposed to do.  So... taxpayer money down the drain?


Now, on to trans women. 








These lovely ladies will now be forced by law to use the men's room.  Conservative ladies again- may I just assume that you are absolutely giddy that these fetching beauties can saunter into the rest room while your husband is using a urinal?  Does this idea make you feel more comfortable than to have them walk into your bathroom?  I call BS if you say yes. I also call BS if you try to tell me that you would immediately identify either of these women as transgender or either of the men I previously posted as transgender.  I can't, and I am fairly worldly about such things.


So, will this bill solve a problem, or will it cause MORE problems than it solves? Think about it- bedlam will ensue if transgender people en masse decide to actually follow the letter of the law, and law enforcement will quickly tire of having to be the genitalia police. 

In fact, I'd love to see an organized effort whereby a large group of transgender people show up to a public place and literally follow the law all at once.  Big burly, bearded, tattooed trans males lining up to enter the ladies' room and ultra feminine appearing trans women filing into the men's room.  With, of course, volunteers around to make sure nobody is beaten or killed, because, frankly, that is a likely scenario with HB2.  I guarantee this will make the intended point, and not a thing can be done about it, because they are technically doing what the law requires them to do.  I would happily pop popcorn and show up just to watch people squirm.


Now, in reality, I have had a couple of people state to me that, in fact, they really DON'T want people who appear to be the opposite gender in their bathroom.  Nor do they want them in the other bathroom. When I ask, "Where, then?", their response is, "They should have to hold it until they get home."  Ok- let's say you work in a business where this is happening.  May I assume that you will be happy to cheerfully clean up the urine and feces that may end up on the floor if said transgender people cannot leave and cannot hold it?  And do you think a bill could ever stand that tells certain people they cannot use any restroom whatsoever? 


In addition to the drama and bedlam that will ensue as people begin to use the "correct restroom", companies and conferences are pulling out of North Carolina left and right. PayPal has withdrawn plans to add a $3.6 million dollar Global Operations Center in Charlotte, thus pulling out 400 well-paying jobs.  McCrory crowed initially over the victory of bringing in these jobs, and now, predictably, Republicans have reversed course, saying "Who needs these jobs anyway?"  The NBA is considering whether to pull out of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game.  Several entertainment companies are pulling out of NC, taking jobs with them.  San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City, along with the State of New York, banned publicly funded employee travel to NC.  Google Ventures banned investments in North Carolina until HB2 is repealed. Our $4.5 billion dollars in  Title IX funding could potentially be at stake if courts hold that Title IX applies to gender identity. Again, are we causing more problems than we are solving? And is there a legitimate "problem" in the first place? I find it ironic that we are hearing little from fiscal conservatives on the dollars we are likely to lose in the state of North Carolina.  They should be livid.


3.  Is the bill at all enforceable?

Face it- if a new law or bill is passed and it is near impossible to enforce, it's a wasted effort.  The enforceability of a bill should absolutely be discussed and vetted before anyone passes it.  Otherwise, it's pointless and merely for show.


This article from Business Insider discusses how police are responding to HB2.  Here are a few quotes.


"That's a very interesting question. We don't have police officers sitting at public bathrooms all day long," a spokesman from the Raleigh Police Department said.


"We would respond if we received a complaint. It's not like we would be standing guard at bathrooms," a spokeswoman from the Greensboro Police Department said.


"So that means people have to go to the bathroom with birth certificates? Yeah, that was curious to me," a spokeswoman for the Wilmington Police Department said.


"We're not checking birth certificates. We just don't have the police power to be able to do that in bathrooms," a spokeswoman for the Asheville Police Department said.


And this article from Mother Jones shares a quote from Rep. Dan Bishop, a co-sponsor of the legislation.  In a statement he wrote to WBTV, he states he never intended for the legislation to lead to bathroom policing. "There are no enforcement provisions or penalties in HB2. Its purpose is to restore common sense bathroom and shower management policy in public buildings, not to pick out people to punish."


So, even the co-sponsor knew that this law was unenforceable, and had no plans to make it so.  Sooooo... again, tell me how useful this bill is?  Nobody is going to peer under stalls, police do not want to verify genitalia, and nobody expects people to carry around their birth certificate. 


4.  Can the bill possibly stand, or is it fairly evident that it will be repealed?

If most law experts believe the law is not going to stick, it's, again, pointless to go through the motions of trying to pass it. Our own Attorney General Roy Cooper has stated for the record that he will not defend HB2 in a lawsuit.  Many experts believe that it's only a matter of WHEN this bill is overturned; not if.  However, no matter whether the bill stands or falls, the cost of the legal fight will be passed along to the taxpayer.  Again, fiscal conservatives either need to be angry about this, or they are not truly fiscally conservative and should not identify as such.


What I find so hypocritical about Republican support of this bill is that it flies in the face of the "less government" mantra.  You cannot yell "less government" whenever a progressive law is proposed and then propose your own tangled bureaucratic law.  If Charlotte had passed an ordinance that discriminated against the LGBTQ community, these same legislators would be applauding, rather than trying to limit local authority, and the double standard here is deafening. 


If you are conservative and celebrating the bathroom aspect of this bill because, yay, traditional values, you are in for a rude awakening when someone fires you for, I don't know, being conservative and religious, and you have no redress at the state level.  If you are conservative and don't want to see what appears to be the "opposite sex" in your restroom, you are going to have a rude awakening when you actually DO end up seeing what appears to be the "opposite sex" in your bathroom and, in fact, those people are actually obeying the law.  (See pictures above) And if you are naïve enough to think this bill exists to protect women and children from "perverts", then you really need to educate yourself about the totality of this bill and the impacts it will have on every North Carolina citizen.  It's a typical Republican gift to big business and the rich, and, again, hordes of working and middle class Christian conservatives have been manipulated into thinking the Republicans are on "their side" of things.  I'm going to tell you this- they don't even CARE about the bathroom aspect of the bill, or, more accurately, they only care as much as they know that YOU care, know that you will be so distracted by the bathroom aspect that you'll willfully ignore the rest, and know that you will vote them back in again.  They want their palms greased by The Man. They absolutely will use you for your votes and then ignore your actual needs. 


Late breaking news- Bruce Springsteen has just canceled an upcoming concert because of objections to HB 2.  How much pushback, how many jobs lost, how much funding lost will be enough before NC citizens drag themselves out of denial?  Even conservatives should be troubled by both HOW this bill was passed and WHAT is contained in the bill.  Do not think this will never affect you.

This too, shall pass.

This is day 2 of Hell.  Life without nicotine.

I quit smoking years ago, and picked it back up during the tail end of 2010, when my life was in a bit of a tailspin.  Trust me- someone who works in academia who smokes is the Fodder of Gossip, and I desperately tried to be closeted in most of my social circles.  However, the smell of smoke is impossible to hide, and it was an open secret.  My kid, certainly, was not ever allowed to see me smoke, and she was still too young to know what that smell was.  Two and a half years ago, a friend introduced me to vaping, and I was in utter glee.  Less toxic, a variety of tasty flavors, and no stench of smoke following me around.  My intention was to slowly wean myself from 18 mg of nicotine down to 0, and then quit.  That somehow never happened.  I am passionately and hopelessly sensitive to nicotine addiction.  I pretty much chain vaped, and when I was somewhere I couldn't vape, I chewed on Nicorette gum nonstop. Some nights, I go to sleep with Nicorette in my mouth so that I keep nicotine in my system. 

Today is Monday.  On Saturday, I will be hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and climbing out 2 days later. I had fully intended to give up the nicotine habit well before I stepped on the airplane to Phoenix.  However, I procrastinated.  Saturday night, I handed my e-cig to my husband and asked him to hide it for me.  Eventually, I'd like to hand it off to someone else trying to quit smoking, but for now, I cannot know where it is.  I also threw out all my Nicorette gum.

I know I have done cold turkey before in my life, but I don't remember it being quite so hellish.  Maybe I am more addicted now- maybe I am weaker now that I am older, but I am a ball of fury and grief and confusion and fatigue. Sometimes, I collapse into tears, as if I have buried an old, dear friend.  Other times, I am ready to explode at anyone who stands nearby. Because I feel unstable and unpredictable, I am avoiding and limiting contact with anyone other than immediate family until I get through the first 72 hours.  I am very fuzzy and addle-headed, and often walk into a room with no memory as to why I am there.  I am having to make lists to get anything accomplished, but I am paralyzed as I stare at the list, pen in hand.  It's as if I have temporarily lost 20 IQ points.  From what I have read, this is all normal, and, thankfully, temporary. Usually, the withdrawal peaks at 72 hours (I am now only at about 40) and, by about 10 days, one's head is pretty well back to normal.  This means I should be peaking tomorrow night. I am on the plane the next day, and 2 days after that, on my way down to Phantom Ranch.  Cutting it close, and this is going to be a very challenging venture for me, but the advantage is that I will have no way to access nicotine at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. 

I've needed to take this final step for years.  Yay to me for quitting smoking, but remaining addicted to nicotine replacement products as long as I have has left me unable to fully celebrate my accomplishment. I have felt controlled by a substance.  Much of my time each day is spent planning how I am going to get my nicotine, and it is already a relief to not have to worry about sneaking into the bathroom to vape during dinner with friends, etc. I am terrified I will pack on more pounds I don't need in the process, but I feel as if I will never move forward and move on without going through this temporary hell.

While I am at it, I am tossing a few other toxic habits on the pile. I am considering restructuring my eating habits again and looking at how I spend my time and with whom.  If it benefits me- it stays.  If it's toxic- it goes.  Detoxing one's life is a holistic exercise. I might as well take care of all the toxins while I am in the state to deal with it.

Food short cuts- which ones are worth it and which ones should be taken out and shot...

To be American in today's world is to be perennially overcommitted.  We are constantly on the go, sleep-deprived, and look for every shortcut in the book. Many times, what gets sacrificed are home-cooked, thoughtfully prepared meals. We spend a fortune at restaurants, and throw convenience food together. Our waistlines and medical parameters show the results of our harried schedule.  The Slow Food Movement is awesome in theory, but I don't have time for Slow anything these days.  Rather than taking an all-or-nothing stance, I'm trying to find short cuts when possible, practical, and healthy and delicious, but there are some short cuts that are just not worth it.  Either doing things the "right way" takes so little extra time, the short cut is ridiculously overpriced, or the short cut is horrifically unhealthy or one sacrifices their tastebuds at the altar of convenience.  Here are a few short cuts that are just not worth it:

Low end ramen noodles.  Yes, they are uber cheap and cook up in 2 minutes.  They are also loaded with sodium and fat, and made with bleached white flour.  And my kid, unfortunately, loves them.  She loves pasta in all forms.   Solution?  Make a gigantic pot of whole grain (wheat, rice, spelt, what have you) pasta and refrigerate the bulk to use for other meals, in soups, etc. My kid could happily eat nothing but pasta and butter, but I doctor it up with protein (chicken, tuna, salmon), half the butter she wants, and sometimes stir in veggies.  When I do make ramen noodles, I try to go for the whole grain/low sodium variety from a co-op or Whole Foods.  The kid squawks. I ignore her.

Short cuts chicken.  You know the chicken chunks you find near the luncheon meat that you can add to salads, etc? They are just nasty.  They taste compressed and reconstituted.  In fact, they are one of the few foods on earth that doesn't "taste like chicken".  I know most of us do not have time to cook a whole chicken.  But this is just foul, and overpriced.  Solution?  Buy a rotisserie chicken- heck, at the end of the day, my grocery store puts them on sale.  They are very affordable, and it takes all of 5-10 minutes to pull the meat off at home.   You can pick up a couple of them and have chicken for a variety of recipes in a week.

Shredded cheese.  I'm a hard sell on this one, because it is so easy to open a bag, but shredded cheese loses a lot of flavor and is much more expensive. It takes all of 5 minutes to grate an entire block of cheese, is good for the arm muscles, and you can grate a couple of days worth at once. 

Jars of pre-minced garlic.   It doesn't even taste like garlic.  It has a bitterness that fresh garlic doesn't have. If you don't have a garlic press, by all means, get one.  It takes a few seconds to peel off the garlic rind, and a few more seconds to press a clove. I used to use it, but when I purchased some fresh garlic, I was floored by how much better my food tasted.

Avoiding fish.  I have heard so many people say that they don't buy fish because they "don't have time for it".  ??  Fish bakes and pan fries so much faster than other meats.   I can pan fry up some salmon steaks on the stove in 5 minutes, and it's the easiest thing ever.  Salmon steaks with olive oil, garlic, capers, and lemon juice is absolutely delicious, and I will often serve the salmon over some of the leftover whole grain pasta.

Frozen vegetables.  Yes, I'm guilty of this at times, but, my lord, they are disgusting.  I grew up on canned and frozen vegetables, and never liked veggies until I went off to college and started cooking fresh ones. It is SO tempting to pop a steamable bag of frozen veggies in the microwave, but it's also easy to get a steamer basket and use it.  We have a container from Pampered Chef that allows us to steam veggies in the microwave in 5 minutes. It takes little time to cut up a squash and a zucchini, half some local cherry tomatoes, and pan fry it in olive oil with some herbs.

My husband would add in baby carrots.  I cave, because I am in a rush in the morning, but I agree that peeling and cutting up a carrot takes little time and tastes so much better.  Another option for a work lunch is to cut up a couple of colored peppers.

Frozen meals.  I falter here as well, but I am trying to get them out of my diet.  They taste like ass, pure and simple, and are full of disgusting crap.  I'm trying to find better solutions for quick, easy lunches to pack, and the easiest, fastest packed lunch is to bring leftovers from dinner.  We try to make large quantities of dinner so that we can have lunches for the week. When I cave, I'm trying to buy better frozen meals.  Amy's makes some that are much healthier and actually taste reasonably pleasant.

Commercial salad dressings.  They are full of junk and, in my opinion, taste like chemicals.  It takes no time at all to make a vinaigrette.  Some days, I just mix balsamic vinegar with olive oil.  That's it.  1 minute of my life. 

Crustables.  Oh. Em. Gee.  These are in the frozen section, and are pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  You take them out and let them thaw.  In that length of time, you could have whipped together multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.   For about a 10th of the price.  Who buys these things?

Pre-sliced boiled eggs.  The HECK?  How fresh could these things be?  And how long does it take to slice up an egg?  For the love of all that is holy, don't.

Short cuts that are worth it (at least to me):

Bagged salad.  No way do I have time on a weekday to wash lettuce and spin it or wait for it to dry. I can take some bagged salad and add some protein, nuts, grape tomatoes, and, if I have them, leftover cooked veggies. I bring a small container of homemade salad dressing, as the salads get nasty and soggy if you put the dressing on at home. It's the only way I am going to bring salad to work, so it's bagged salad or no salad.


Rotisserie chicken.  I could live on rotisserie chicken.  I do not have time to cook whole chickens, and they are tasty and cheap.  They can be used in just about any chicken recipe, or just thrown onto a salad or in a tortilla.  Definitely worth it.

Chopped butternut squash cubes.  I haven't noticed any taste difference, and they are so convenient in stews or other recipes.  Peeling and cutting a butternut squash takes a lot of time.

Pie crust.  Unless I am taking a pie to a very special dinner, the store bought variety are tasty enough to make the convenience worthwhile. And we rarely make pies anyway.

Cake mixes.  They CAN be worth it, if you are just feeding a bunch of kids, or if you doctor up the recipe.  Otherwise, there is nothing as tasty as a homemade cake. And the pre-made frosting pales in comparison to the homemade variety.  I'd probably compromise with a cake mix with homemade frosting.

Bisquick/pancake mix.  We eat pancakes so infrequently that I don't mind occasionally using Bisquick, and it comes in handy for a variety of recipes. I am biased, as I grew up on Bisquick, and it tastes like my childhood.  Plus, I am usually too out of it first thing in the morning to whip up homemade pancakes.  If you want a healthier option, Whole Foods or your local co-op will probably have whole grain, organic, pancake mixes.  Arrowhead Mills makes some tasty ones.I wouldn't recommend a steady stream of pancake breakfasts, scratch or not, but if you do it as little as we do, a little Bisquick won't kill you.

In general, my list will differ from your list, as we all have different taste buds.  Cut corners when it won't compromise healthy eating or taste bad.  Take the extra time when it really matters, or when the short cut is overpriced or nasty. 

insanity is to continue to argue with the insane...

I have just engaged in the most pointless FB argument ever.  An old acquaintance posted, without irony or hesitation, that the US government has a depopulation agenda, wants an Ebola pandemic, and will bring the survivors to their knees.  I engaged my science librarian self asking for his list of peer-reviewed articles and evidence from virologists, and said to spare me the URLs from conspiracy web sites and blogs. He responded, and, I can't really remember the diatribe that came out of his mouth, other than the fact that he responded in ALL CAPS, and I cannot read conspiracy rants in ALL CAPS, sorry, dude.  He mentioned the "well-known government's depopulation agenda", and I responded that it can't be all that well known, as I didn't know this to be a fact.

I have been thinking about how I do science literacy instruction here at the library, and I am realizing that I have been focusing too much on how to find library sources, such as journal articles and books, and not enough time on science literacy.  I do talk a good deal about finding authoritative sources, and how to tell the difference between a solid, scholarly web site/journal article and something that is not authoritative, but I don't think I provide enough context as to why this is important.  Having these skills are not only important in scholarship, but also in one's personal life as one grapples with all the claims and statistics floating around on the interwebz, especially pertaining to science.  There is an epidemic of junk science that is leading to science refusal and distrust of the people who have spent their lives doing research and gaining expertise, and when we consider a Playboy bunny an authoritative source on vaccines, rather than our physicians or our scientists, we have a serious problem.  We cite Rush Limbaugh on climate change and poo poo climate researchers who almost unanimously agree that humans are affecting global climates. We are a nation of people who are overly confident in our opinions, and opine far out of our expert domain.  Though I am a lefty like many celebrities, I do not go to my favorite celebrity for opinions on scientific matters. I do not go to an anonymous blogger, or an organization funded by corporate interests.  I try to search scholarly databases and look for peer-reviewed articles by experts.  This is something I try to instill in my students, and clearly, I  need to stress this more. It's not about a political agenda- I will reverse my opinions if I am showed clear, authoritative evidence that I am wrong.  It's about teaching and learning critical thinking skills, and we, as a nation, are doing a horrific job here.

My problem with conspiracy theorists is that they are indiscriminate when it comes to assessing information sources.  They have a pre-set agenda, and take any information as truth that suits their agenda without close examination.  And, they have a built in refusal tool.  If I present statistics from the CDC, well, the CDC is in on the conspiracy, so I can't trust their statistics.  If I present evidence by scholars and researchers at universities, hell, they are bought off by the powers-that-be, and cannot be trusted.  So, anything I bring to them that refutes a wild conspiracy is information that THE GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE.  And then, they deposit a list of links from frothy-mouthed blogs made by people I have never heard of with no expertise on the topic, and I cannot possibly trace the information back to an authoritative source; nor can they either. So, distrust the experts, but trust any Joe Blow who posts that they KNOW the truth.  Last night, my husband showed me a photo posted on a UFO FB group that "proved" that aliens visited the moon.  Note- he was once part of the UFOlogy community.  He recognized the graphic as coming from a fictional movie! If I catch conspiracy nuts in the act of believing something so easily refuted, how can I trust them on anything else they claim is true?

Do I believe conspiracies are possible?  Certainly.  Anything is possible.But do I believe that hundreds, even thousands of elite people can be in on the conspiracy and keep it secret?  Have you ever tried to get even 10 friends to keep a secret? Or get a group of 10 co-workers and talk them into sharing your agenda? Herding people is only slightly less difficult than herding cats, and to believe that everyone with any kind of important office in the CDC, NIH, the US Government, working as a researcher, all have a secret handshake, a shared agenda, and a willingness to keep their traps shut is so farfetched I cannot imagine anyone older than 15 buying into this.

I did finally extract myself from the FB argument.  You cannot argue with crazy, these people have their own circular logic that does not accept any evidence they don't want to see, and it is a pointless waste of my time to even go there.  Some of these people I remember as once being chill, fun, easy to hang out with. I wonder what happened to their psyche that caused them to walk around with so much paranoia and anxiety.

As far as Ebola, it's useless to point out the facts of the disease- ie, not airborne, not easily transmitted, because THAT IS WHAT THE CDC WANTS US TO BELIEVE.  Never mind that anyone in the government with even half a brain would want to allow a pandemic inside our borders that might end up killing him or her. And, hell, if it kills us all, there would be nobody left to control.  There is no logic to it.  And I have to learn to walk away and allow the illogical to remain illogical.  All I can do is to work with my undergrads and show them critical thinking and good research skills and hope that it sticks.

culture of ugliness

I am reaching my limit of tolerance when it comes to mocking people. I continually have pictures of the "The People of Wal-Mart" vein popping up on my FB feed, and it's getting on my last nerve.  Do I think it's tasteful to walk around in public with see-through leggings, or with butt cheeks or belly rolls hanging out?  Not particularly, no.  Do I want to expend the least little bit of energy taking stealth pictures of these people, posting them on Facebook, and then laughing at them?  Absolutely not.  My little bit of spare time is spent trying to work on myself.  There is exercise to be done, home improvement, learning new things, reading, time to spend with my family, traveling, professional development.  I can barely squeeze everything in that needs to be done, much less troll Wal-Mart for people wearing ill-fitting clothes. I feel like I am in a constant struggle to try to be the best person I can be, and there is always room for improvement.  Every moment I waste judging other people is a moment I am not using for self-improvement.

When did our culture become accepting of ugliness? And by this, I don't mean physical unattractiveness, but rather expressing hate and derision.  Perhaps it's always been there, but the rise of social media has forced me to have to bump into mean-spritedness on a daily basis.  God forbid you are a few pounds overweight, or, due to poverty and lack of education and nurturing, walk around in clothing most people find unacceptable, or carry extra weight due to being nutrition-starved.  And, we love our reality shows, where we can mock people whom we deem to be "white trash".

Listen, people.  We have real problems in this world that must be tackled.  Climate change, violence around the world, refugees, inequality. I am beginning to fear that we are generally dumbing down as a people. Idiocracy appears to be coming to fruition.

Yes, my panties are in a wad.  Yes, I am clutching my pearls.  I have to raise my daughter in this world, and I am trying to produce an empathetic, kind-hearted adult. Your hatred says more about you than it does about the objects of your contempt.  Anyone who invests time and energy making fun of other people is compensating for feelings of insecurity and inadequacy.  High achievers don't have time for this shit.

Rant over.

the family has returned

Have made it through 3/4 of a blog entry of my varied impressions of Las Vegas, after spending almost a week conferencing there, but just haven't been able to wrap it up yet.

After 8 days without my family, I was so thrilled to see them arrive on Saturday.  Hubby dropped the kiddo off at overnight camp the previous weekend, and he stayed up in Virginia for a week to be nearby, in case of emergency.  Kiddo often finds it difficult to fit in well in social situations such as this, so we thought it important that someone be nearby, in case any problems arose.  Thankfully, she had a blast at Triple R Ranch, where I went to summer camp as a kid, and left with new friends.

I spent several days in the backcountry in the Smokies with a buddy, and dragged my body up and down 4300 feet of elevation change.  We did the Big Creek/Swallow Fork/Mt Sterling Ridge/Baxter Creek loop, which I cannot recommend enough for a 3 day loop. The first day is an almost flat 6 miles or so up Big Creek, which features multiple swimming holes and lush falls. The second day is a 4000 foot climb to Mt Sterling, and the 3rd day is a steep 4300 descent on Baxter Creek Trail.  I discovered that my trip to the Grand Canyon will only be 500 feet more elevation change than this one, and over an additional mile of trail. I had to stop and rest frequently on the second day, but once we set up camp, my leg pain had subsided somewhat, and I topped off the hike by going up and down a 60 foot high fire tower 4 times.  The 360 view from the top of Mt Sterling is not to be missed.  Every five minutes, the shadows move and the view changes.  So, given that I managed to complete this hike without much pain lets me know that I am almost ready to tackle the Grand Canyon.  I have until January to keep climbing stairs and lose a few pounds, and, surely, having a small daypack, rather than a 50 pound backpack, will make the hike slightly more comfortable.  My shoulders and hips always squawk at the end of a backpack, but my legs are only sore for a day.

Though I have been geographically separated from my husband for several months at a time over the years, this was the longest stretch of time I spent away from my 8 year old.  I will freely admit that the first few days were a nice, relaxing break, but shortly after I returned from the Smokies a few days after, I was positively yearning for her exuberance and energy.  I found that I could stalk her online, as the camp posted daily pictures, and I flipped through each day's photos trying to catch a glimpse of my daughter.  I was thrilled to see her goofing around and mugging for the camera.

This is the third camp she's attended this summer, though the other two were day camps.  She asked to attend Christian camps, and this agnostic whipped out her wallet each time.  I don't know how most agnostics/atheists (and, by some definitions, I might be considered an atheist) with Christian children react, but I don't have any issue with my daughter exploring faith.  Each human being needs to find his or her own path, and we often egotistically try to impose our own belief system on our children. I gave birth to her; I hosted her; I am charged with raising her, but she is her own person and I don't have a say as to whether or not she will be a person of faith.  I do feel responsible for helping her find a path that supports basic human rights, so I will guide her to progressive churches, and ethically, I cannot support using my car and gas money to drive her to churches that oppose gay marriage, but if she chooses a fundamentalist path, ultimately, I will still love and respect her agency.  We have so many LGBTQ friends that I think she'd have a difficult time taking on homophobia, and she's spunky and independent enough that I have a difficult time imagining her tolerating a misogynistic lifestyle.  Every night, she silently prays to God before she goes to sleep and blows him a kiss.  To be honest, since she's taken on faith, she seems more content with her life and less tormented by her ADHD.  I don't know if this stage will last- I went through a Christian phase and ultimately moved away from it, but there is something oddly endearing about seeing my daughter pray.  I don't have the "God" gene- I just can't go there.  But, if it turns out that she does, and that faith brings her comfort, I will be happy for her.

I suspect that most of my agnostic/atheist friends would react much as I do to having Christian children- or, at least, manage to move past their disappointment.  However, I cannot see fundamentalist Christians being able to accept their children becoming atheists.  Since I don't believe in Hell, I am not worried about my child ending up there.  A fundamentalist is going to worry profusely that their child will end up burning for all eternity.  But, I do think that many parents across the political and religious spectrum share a common desire to produce small carbon copies of themselves. Our role is to guide our children into the world as responsible citizens, but we do not own them.  They need to find themselves, and we must accept and celebrate the people they become, barring, of course, that they become hateful or sociopathic or violent criminals or drug addicts.  I don't wish for my daughter to become anything other than the best person she is intended to be.  I do wish this was something I could share with her.  I would love to be able to pray WITH her, but I must be authentic and be the person I am intended to be.  There are so many other things we share- this is something she gets to have that is all her own.