Althouse |
- "People with psychosomatic illnesses are unfortunate in the fact that their condition offends western ideas not just about illness but who we are...."
- "Around 15 million garments per week flow through Kantamanto, one of the largest secondhand clothing markets in the world...."
- Is there an "adultification bias" that "uniquely plagues Black girls"?
- Garner — in the news.
- "Her art comes to life by oxidization. Just like apples, bananas oxidize, or turn brown, as the enzymes in their cells are released and interact with the oxygen in the air."
- 1-minute sunrise.
| Posted: 22 Apr 2021 08:39 AM PDT "Our minds are airy, ethereal, separate; our bodies are a sort of machine for which the doctor is a mechanic. But... [s]praying water from your eyes in response to bad news is an example of a psychological state causing a physical one. So is the phenomenon of staving off a bout of illness until after you've completed an exam or an important piece of work....[S]ufferers from Parkinson's disease, a physically manifested illness with an identifiable biological cause, respond dramatically to placebos. This means the psychological experience of a physical illness (in this case whether or not you believe you're being treated) affects the way that illness manifests itself.... Another challenge to our understanding of functional disorders is our individualism. Though universal in human beings, psychosomatic illnesses are rooted in cultures and societies. Resignation syndrome, a disorder that causes children to fall asleep for years, occurs almost exclusively in asylum-seeking families in Sweden. The illness seems to be spread by reports of its existence. In France, you can buy remedies for a common minor syndrome called 'heavy legs' in most pharmacies. No other country seems to experience 'heavy legs.'.... [A] functional disorder called grisi siknis (crazy sickness), which is common among girls of the Nicaraguan Miskito people and causes hallucinations, tremors and superhuman strength, is successfully treated with rituals and the community 'rallying around.' Secular, atomised western society has no equivalent treatment." From "Let's end the stigma of psychosomatic illness/Our culture insists disease must have a biological cause but doctors know it isn't that simple" by James Marriott (London Times). Secular, atomised western society has no equivalent treatment? What about congregations praying for the sick? Would it be "western" of me to say let's end the use of "western" to mean obsession with... whatever Marriott is using it to mean. It seems to me that we who live in the western longitudes of planet Earth have plenty of scientific and unscientific notions of the brain, roiling around in our brains. And when I look at a map, I see that Nicaragua is just as western as Tennessee and Ohio. *** There is no comments section anymore, but you can email me here. Unless you say otherwise, I will presume you'd enjoy an update to this post with a quote from your email.  |
| Posted: 22 Apr 2021 07:59 AM PDT "Retailers take out substantial loans to purchase the bundles, hoping to find worthwhile garments in sellable condition. Yet almost half of what is bought is thrown away.... Why is there so much secondhand clothing? Increasingly, it's built into the way we dress: fast fashion, the trendy, mass-produced clothing that can be made quickly and at low cost.... [T]he average person purchased 60 percent more clothing in 2014 compared to 2000, while each garment was kept for only half as long.... [C]lothing production accounts for 10 percent of the world's carbon emissions. In response to increasing criticisms, fast fashion brands like Uniqlo, Zara, and Urban Outfitters have launched lines with a sustainable veneer: collections made with recycled materials... referred to... as 'greenwashing.'... [One activist] proposes a solution that would expand upon the traditional Three Rs kids are taught in schools—Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle—by adding Reckoning, Recovery, and Reparations.... In order to make fashion truly sustainable, the world will require Westerners to radically shift our relationship to clothing itself." From "Greenwashing Fashion/These days, sustainability is on trend. But the trend cycle of fast fashion isn't sustainable" (The Nation). Do you have the "relationship to clothing" described in the article? I don't think I do. I know better than to donate things that aren't saleable. Just throw them out in your own trash. Don't make them take a journey halfway around the world to be thrown out later. And if it doesn't belong in the trash, why not keep wearing it until it does? If the answer is It went out of style, then you can stop buying things that have that sort of style of planned future unstylishness. Choose classic, timeless styles and utilitarian clothing. If the answer is It doesn't fit anymore, then donate what's resellable. Better yet: maintain a consistent body size. You know that would be good for you. And it would also be good for the environment in 2 ways: 1. You'd be offloading less clothing into the secondhand market, and 2. You would not be overconsuming food and using the additional fossil fuel it takes to move your extra poundage in your motorized vehicle. *** There is no comments section anymore, but you can email me here. Unless you say otherwise, I will presume you'd enjoy an update to this post with a quote from your email.  |
| Is there an "adultification bias" that "uniquely plagues Black girls"? Posted: 22 Apr 2021 08:51 AM PDT I'm reading "The Columbus mayor called Ma'Khia Bryant a 'young woman.' Here's why people are angry. Some said it exemplified 'adultification bias' against the Black 16-year-old girl who was fatally shot by police" (The Lily/WaPo):
It may be that black kids are often regarded as older than white kids of the same age. When there's an emergency, like the one in the case of Ma'Khia Bryant, those who need to help can only judge by what they see. We've seen the video, and Bryant looks like a powerful attacker about to slaughter someone who looks utterly defenseless. But the question of how to talk about the dead person afterwards is different. City officials ought to be circumspect and use careful language. But what is the best way to refer to a 16-year-old female? I would have thought "young woman" is the most respectful locution and that "girl" for someone that age is questionable. But I understand the desire to encourage the police to see minors in a different light from adults. They're equal, oftentimes, in size and power, and they are out in the world acting independently and capable of causing great harm, but they haven't had the chance to mature mentally, and we ought to give them special care.... if we can. Video can be deceiving, but based on the video, I'd say there was no time to give Ma'Khia Bryant special care befitting her young age. The life of the other girl/young woman was on the line.But The Lily goes on like this: To [Ijeoma Opara, an assistant professor in the school of social welfare at Stony Brook University], the shooting exemplified [the sexism black girls face], given the familiarity of the situation: kids fighting. But police aggressively responded to Ma'Khia because of sexism and racism, she argued. "Children fight all the time, regardless of race, regardless of class level," she said. "When we think about Ma'Khia or other Black girls like her … they're not given the chance to be in situations that could be de-escalated."... Ma'Khia's mother, Paula Bryant, said she was an honor roll student and that she had a "motherly nature about her." "She promoted peace. That's something I want to always be remembered," she told local TV station WBNS. It's those memories, Opara said, that journalists should make sure to include in coverage of the girl's death. "Journalists need to stop for a second and reflect and think: 'Would I talk about Ma'Khia this way if she was a White girl?'" she said. "We all really have to make a conscious effort to undo what we've learned in school and in the media."Does anyone really think that a white girl seen on video doing what Bryant did would get more respect than has been shown to Bryant? I think she'd get much less. FROM THE EMAIL: Jim writes:
Yes, there is a new Supreme Court case on exactly this subject. The majority opinion is by Kavanaugh, joined by Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett. Thomas's opinion is a concurrence. And the 3 liberal justices — Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan — dissent. Thomas is the only member of the Court who brings up abortion. AND: Bill emails:
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| Posted: 22 Apr 2021 06:42 AM PDT 1. "It's hard not to mythologize Bryan A. Garner. He is the Herakles of English usage.... A selection of sixty-eight items from the Garner Collection is on view at the Grolier Club.... The catalogue for the exhibit has two subthemes. One is a running count of how many parts of speech are defined in each grammar book: anywhere from two (nouns and verbs) to thirty-three (don't ask). (The traditional number is eight.) The other thread is rivalry and backbiting among authors. In that era, a Grammar was second only to a Bible as a necessary object in a God-fearing household. While the Bible provided moral instruction, the Grammar, as a guide to correct linguistic behavior, might shore up confidence and help one get ahead in the world." — From "Grammar-Nerd Heaven/A new exhibit showcases the surprisingly contentious history of English grammar books" by Mary Norris (The New Yorker). 2. "Earlier this month, the biographer Blake Bailey was approaching what seemed like the apex of his literary career. Reviews of his highly anticipated Philip Roth biography appeared before the book came out... Now, allegations against Mr. Bailey, 57, have emerged.... His publisher, W.W. Norton... said on Wednesday that it had stopped shipments and promotion of his book.... [In 2015], Valentina Rice, a publishing executive, met Mr. Bailey at the home of Dwight Garner, a book critic for The Times, and his wife in Frenchtown, N.J. A frequent guest at their home, Ms. Rice, 47, planned to stay overnight, as did Mr. Bailey, she said. After she went to bed, Mr. Bailey entered her room and raped her, she said. She said 'no' and 'stop' repeatedly, she said in an interview.... Mr. Garner was horrified to hear Ms. Rice's account, he said. He added that he and Mr. Bailey do not have a relationship." — From "Sexual Assault Allegations Against Biographer Halt Shipping of His Roth Book/W.W. Norton, citing the accusations that the author, Blake Bailey, faces, said it would stop shipping and promoting his new best-selling book" (NYT). *** There is no comments section anymore, but you can email me here. Unless you say otherwise, I will presume you'd enjoy an update to this post with a quote from your email.  |
| Posted: 22 Apr 2021 01:53 PM PDT "Cells that are damaged — because they've been poked with a fork or dropped on the floor — brown faster. By varying when she applied the marks, Chojnicka discovered that she could create a palette of shades, resulting in surprisingly intricate pictures." From "Bored in the pandemic, she made art by bruising bananas. Now she has an international following" (WaPo), which is all about this Instagram feed. It's not high art. It's stuff like this:
Yes, that gets you an article in The Washington Post these days. Got to keep up with the fads. Speaking of fads, bananas, and "high art," remember the 60s fad of getting high from banana skins and wondering if "Mellow Yellow" was about that? Ah, yes, here — Atlas Obscura has an article about it: "Smoking Banana Peels Is the Greatest Drug Hoax of All Time/They called it mellow yellow" ("Donovan would later state definitively that the song was actually written about a yellow vibrator..."). ADDED: I was curious about my use of the word "skins" — "banana skins" — instead of the more normal "banana peels." What came over me? I googled and was very amused to see that "Banana peel" has its own Wikipedia page. It's not just a subsection under "Banana." Anyway, there I learn that "banana skins" is the British term. The subsections with the "Banana peels" article are: "Uses," "Culinary Uses," "In a comical context," "Peeling methods," and "Psychoactive effects of banana peels." Under the "comical" heading, we get the serious science of why banana peels provide such a slippery surface:
*** There is no comments section anymore, but you can email me here. Unless you say otherwise, I will presume you'd enjoy an update to this post with a quote from your email.  |
| Posted: 22 Apr 2021 05:04 AM PDT This morning, at 6:05:  |
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