The Weird Times

Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces

The Weird Times, Issue 11: July 26, 2020

“Dear America: You are waking up, as Germany once did, to the awareness that 1/3 of your people would kill another 1/3, while 1/3 watches.” – Werner Herzog

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“We’ve now passed the point where almost any usage except Big Lie fails to depict the conscious deception to racist and authoritarian ends that is the very purpose of such enterprises as Fox News. Rupert Murdoch may not have endowed a Joseph Goebbels School of Journalism, but he’s effectively re-created it.” – Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect

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Citizens in Portland fight back against Trump’s fascist storm troopers. Lessons for all of us. Leaf-blower wars: How Portland protesters are fighting back against tear gas and forming ‘walls’ of veterans, lawyers, nurses, Washington Post, July 26, 2020

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s speech about sexism and sexist language in the floor of the House of Representatives is crucial. Her brilliance is undeniable. Video here. Transcript here.

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DHS was established to protect the country “from the ever-present threat of global terrorism. It was not established to be the president’s personal militia,” Tom Ridge, quoted in the Washington Post, July 22, 2020

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“Trump’s grand design is to use his secret police to provoke physical clashes, which then become the pretext for sending in more storm troopers. America is seen as falling into civil disorder, and Trump (having provoked the disorder) poses as the law-and-order president.”—Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect.

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During the pandemic, I am trying to maintain my balance by simultaneously reading both fiction and nonfiction. This spring, I read a terrific new novel, Crooked Hallelujah, by a young writer whose work was new to me—Kelli Jo Ford. In this, her first novel, she masterfully tells the stories of four generations of strong Cherokee women who live in Eastern Oklahoma. Listen to my interview with Kelli Jo at Writerscast.com. Or listen on iTunes or Stitcher.

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Research on voting by mail says it’s safe – from fraud and disease –Edie Goldberg, Professor of Public Policy, University of Michigan, The Conversation, July 18, 2020.

“The evidence we reviewed finds that voting by mail is rarely subject to fraud, does not give an advantage to one political party over another and can in fact inspire public confidence in the voting process, if done properly.”

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A must-read piece by Mark Hurst of Creative Good: The danger of Twitter as 'ultimate editor' of the news, by @markhurst -http://creativegood.com/blog/20/twitter-as-ultimate-editor.html

“I think we need to consider what social media is doing to us.

Rip out the algorithms, take down the algorithmic timelines, and get back to human-to-human discussion.”

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Oklahoma is- and always has been – Native land, Dwanna L. McKay, The Conversation

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In 1923, baseball pitcher Urban Shocker predicted Trump’s communication method: Indirection.

“The batter has to take what comes

and if you can contrive to give him something he isn't looking for,

you have him.”

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The enemies of democracy in America are led by Charles Koch and his shadow influence machine (read Nancy MacLean’s seminal Democracy in Chains). Guess who is behind the effort to defund and destroy the US Postal Service, the most trusted entity in America? Read Lisa Graves, Wait a Minute, Mr. Koch-Man: The Plot to Kill the Public’s Postal Service to learn more.

Mike Pompeo states the case for the cynical, theocratic Koch-financed Ayn Randian philosophy that animates the radical right: private property and religious freedom are foremost human rights (they mean only the Protestant religion) to the exclusion of anyone not in their tent.

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A strong democracy requires a free and diverse independent media. Support sources of news and information that help keep us informed and aware, like Unicorn Riot, a nonprofit grassroots media project: “a decentralized, educational 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization of artists and journalists. Our work is dedicated to exposing root causes of dynamic social and environmental issues through amplifying stories and exploring sustainable alternatives in today’s globalized world.”

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Interview and reading with Ethelbert Miller at Hocopolitso.

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What This Cruel War Was Over - Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote what might be the most clear eyed piece about the Confederacy and its flag, published in The Atlantic in 2015, well worth reading today, as the flag still flies, and it still represents white supremacy.

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Trump, Barr and their underlings throw around the term “violent anarchists” as if it was a real thing. Don’t fall for it. Read up on anarchy and defuse their rhetorical propaganda by learning what anarchy is actually all about, a real political theory. It’s not what you’ve been taught to believe. The excellent independent PM Press publishes books about anarchy and many are on sale right now.

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Beau Beausoleil

Repeating The
Same Sky

This is where
we part company
she said

This is where
the map on
the palm
of your
empty hand
ends
Where the path
crosses over
the body
of water
under us
and we almost
drown

I don't want
to die
in someone
else's
body
I said

I want
the fox
to take
me home

There is
always the
possibility of
beauty
in anything
even
in death
she said

And don't look back
at all this sorrow
she said

Leave me here
with it

At least for tonight
this is where
your nightmare ends

And mine begins

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“Success is happening for those who adopt a new mindset, tactics, and commitment, and who establish their purpose. Following the old script won’t work.” Amy Radin, The Change Maker’s Playbook.

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“Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.” Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny.

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After so much grim news, I am closing today’s missive on a positive note:

Llamas-Yes, Llamas-Could Help Us Fight Covid-19, Grace Huckins, Wired.