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5 things make a post
Dec. 7th, 2024 09:52 am1) A recent dream I had: ( If this scene were in a movie, it would be universally panned as unsubtle and tone deaf )
2) There's much talk, in recent news (at least, on NPR), of how the political upheaval in France, South Korea, Germany, and Syria, are all connected in a web of general Global Populism. What I've not heard much about is how the murder of the United Healthcare C.E.O. is also part of this great wave. Sure, he wasn't Technically part of a national government, but considering how much power corporate conglomerates have over the daily lives of U.S. citizens, he may as well have been.
3) On a happier note (unintended pun), this video was in my recommendations, this morning:
( Lyrics )
4) Speaking of spinning yarns, I recently watched another video (It's (still) okay to lie to your kids about Santa) about studies that show, at a certain age, children learn to look for evidence to back up the stories their parents (and their societies) tell them. But they're less likely to learn that skill if they are protected from untruths at all costs. And that got me thinking two things:
5) Subtle sign of my culture's amatonormativity: Recently had cause to call for a heating tech to come figure out why my heater wasn't responding to the thermostat (It turns out, someone had flipped the emergency switch that shuts off the heater, and I'd forgotten that switch existed; it's around a corner that's hard to get to in my chair), and I called the company whose name is on my thermostat cover. When I gave the address to the receptionist, she asked if I were Mrs. Ann [Last Name]; I (while sighing internally at the assumption that all adults of a certain age must be married) answered: "Not 'Mrs.,' but yes."
2) There's much talk, in recent news (at least, on NPR), of how the political upheaval in France, South Korea, Germany, and Syria, are all connected in a web of general Global Populism. What I've not heard much about is how the murder of the United Healthcare C.E.O. is also part of this great wave. Sure, he wasn't Technically part of a national government, but considering how much power corporate conglomerates have over the daily lives of U.S. citizens, he may as well have been.
3) On a happier note (unintended pun), this video was in my recommendations, this morning:
( Lyrics )
4) Speaking of spinning yarns, I recently watched another video (It's (still) okay to lie to your kids about Santa) about studies that show, at a certain age, children learn to look for evidence to back up the stories their parents (and their societies) tell them. But they're less likely to learn that skill if they are protected from untruths at all costs. And that got me thinking two things:
- So never letting your kids be exposed to fictional stories has a similar negative effect on their intellectual health as never letting your kids be exposed to dirt has on their physical health (they can't build up a healthy resistance to 'infection')?
- So (in general) at what age do kids learn the distinction between manipulative lies and playful stories?
5) Subtle sign of my culture's amatonormativity: Recently had cause to call for a heating tech to come figure out why my heater wasn't responding to the thermostat (It turns out, someone had flipped the emergency switch that shuts off the heater, and I'd forgotten that switch existed; it's around a corner that's hard to get to in my chair), and I called the company whose name is on my thermostat cover. When I gave the address to the receptionist, she asked if I were Mrs. Ann [Last Name]; I (while sighing internally at the assumption that all adults of a certain age must be married) answered: "Not 'Mrs.,' but yes."
