35.04/ Update about #WandaVision. Finally got to the episode where they lampshade the points I made about erasing her Sokovian heritage. At least they respect the audience more than I first gave them credit for.
35.05a/ Twas the last Sat. Movie Night of the season and I was finally able to show the kids The Wizard of Oz. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizar…
They'd refused before b/c they read the 14 book series & felt the movie violated the source material, a common problem. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_O…
35.05b/ But IMO the cultural impact of the film is so large that it exists separate of the books. There are SO MANY parodies, references, etc of davka the film (not the books) that it's needed for cultural literacy
BTW, I'd forgotten how tight the film was. Almost no wasted time
35.05c/ I was having fun mocking the ham-handed one-to-one allegorical interpretations people make about the characters. The kids got into it so they'd ask about every new person:
"Glinda? She's the Unicameral Nebraska legislature. Flying monkeys? England" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political…
35.06/ March 14 2021 was Shabbat. By that time we'd all been infected by COVID, my wife had a moderate fever, & I was begging the shuls/schools to start tracking data of who was sick, shut-in, needs groceries etc. Sadly, not much success. I knew it would've been critical info.
35.07/ Hard to explain why, but yes, this comic came up in conversation and I'm glad someone was able to post it.
35.08/ When I see the GOP or major media acting terribly, thinking that the #TrumpCrisis hasn't ended, I remind myself that (a) it hasn't ended b/c (b) the perpetrators & profiteers haven't been punished for the behavior that plunged us into the crisis. Simple sociology at play.
35.09/ This thirsty goofus is getting rightly ratioed & while I'd like to add to the mass-dunk, I also don't want to give these NYT trolls rage-clicks. But I do get that asking POTUS a question in a bona-fide press conference is the only currency in his strained & stupid world.
35.10/ My man Luis Guillorme @lguillorme13 had an epic 22 pitch walk - which started 0-2! - and yet he agrees the bat-catch topped it.
35.13a/ This is a really excellent thread about what it means to be #GenX. I'd only add that my generation were kids during the "Reagan is a demented pretend-cowboy who could press the nuclear button at any moment" era
35.13b/ The daily terror of nuclear annihilation under the first unserious GOP POTUS incompetent since Hoover, while under the cultural strangulation of the hated Boomers, created our legendary #GenX generational resilience.
35.14/ Just got back from the now quotidian miracle at the meadowlands at 1:52pm. Just as cold as the last time I was there (Steelers at Jets, 2019) but a much more satisfying result.
35.16/ I'm catching up on my commentary and from the last day of #BlackHistoryMonth are these two amazing videos made from Fredrick Douglass' pictures.
Hey, the tech exists so might as well put it to virtuous use.
35.18/ I got this wrong. He didn't try to exit early b/c he needed to cling to power by any crazy means available, and I still didn't get that part. This is where 'ninja fighting ninja' is better than me: I can't predict evil despite my hatred of it.
35.19/ These before/after pictures are heartbreaking for the loss of life and society. Fascism is based on many underlying abusive ideas, chief is the toxic male glorification of war. But the reality of war is hell
35.20a/ Just want to send my fellow #GenX PBS watchers, NY division, a nostalgia infusion this rough afternoon.
Here's an intro that always brought me joy, from our friends at The Bureau of Mass Communications: NY State Education Department
35.20b/ Why did I find that clip? Because I was looking for the intro to a show that I didn't get to see often, but whose intro song is one of my favorites.
My kids know, b/c I play them often, I'm an avid aficionado of TV Themes. It's prob. another #GenX thing.
35.21/ This is an excellent point, and something I remember learning from my mentor Prof. Peter Brown, to infer from laws and other documents what's missing from what's revealed
35.23b/ And we just scored again. I've never SEEN 9-0... in the second period... #NYR
35.24/ To all #Tottenham fans, I apologize. I had no idea that when I started rooting for the 'Spurs that I would give you my #NYM style mazal. Nor would the team get bounced from the playoffs like the #Steelers did this year. This is kinda on me. My bad.
35.25/ I so admire this position. Any show that centers a criminal has to walk a fine line to justify so much sordid focus on terrible actions. But as a hero? No. Way.
35.26/ I'm trying to read up as much as possible about the horrible spree killing of this week in Atlanta. This thread & article about "entitled shame" really struck me.
35.27/ Excellent. Just excellent. Yes, white supremacy is nearly everywhere. That's what we mean by "structural" - you will be hurt by it, or benefit from it, just by being in the system.
35.32/ This mini-thread strikes me as correct. Basically, the only way US culture will accept a task is if it's couched as a 'war' and where we basically destroy something (hence mask-wearing/containment failed but vaccines are a success)
35.34/ I need to invent phrases for two different types of scholars:
(1) Always chooses the best topics but deals with them terribly.
(2) Chooses good topics, analyzes well & brings good sources, but whose conclusions are always wrong.
35.35/ Every few days there's a new joke template on Twitter (gives support for the "Q: how were jokes invented? A: the army & prison" thesis) and this is one of my favorite examples of the recent one, re: the "$1400, me" structure
35.37/ A number of big news stories have passed me by this week but I want to acknowledge the confirmation of a Native American woman to run the Dept. of Interior. These things matter because "nothing about us without us" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_A…
35.38/ I sent this out earlier in the week but putting it in the main thread now. It's mind-blowing, but the flying cars still haven't materialized (thank goodness, BTW).
And if they had them wearing masks, I'd assume Doc Brown was involved
35.41/ Important context for the whiny "Biden needs a press conference" yawps: the networks don't carry the actual daily press conference. Which means the yawp is about their own clout/jollies & not a desire to inform
35.42/ What I like about this is (a) I've added so many trans community voices that I know who he's referring to & (b) the person is J*ss* S*ng*l & all I knew of him is being a bigot & NOTHING ELSE. So not only do I feel informed, I feel properly prepped
212.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Devarim and #TishaBeAv 5783 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim
Downloadable pdf with working links of Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the parsha and other topics of the week. 22 pages. drive.google.com/file/d/1TH6ApN…
212.03/ This is an excellent, spot-on, thread. I've said a lot of this stuff for years.
[I'm a life-long Democrat born in Pittsburgh & raised in small towns (Binghamton), rural areas (Ithaca), and the South (Memphis). Walz is a familiar archetype to me.]
211.02/ It would behoove this law prof. to learn about the Jewish law concept of "chazakah" - the legal presumption for what a person means/intends. So, um, Trump (ym'sh) fomented an armed insurrection. He wants to end Democracy.
210.03/ I had too many sleepless nights over the last three weeks because of the drumbeat against Biden b/c there was too much smoke for there not to be fire. What kept me steady was my trust of his judgement. So if he thinks this is wise, then I logically have to support it.
209.02/ Following the assassination attempt on TFG yesterday - an act I condemn; ballots not bullets - the reaction by news agencies has been unhinged. But I'm singling out The Daily Beast and Politico who are lionizing TFG using very disturbing rhetoric. I've had to unfollow.
209.03/ I'm furious that so many in Congress are playing this dangerous game but I'm reminding myself that (1) the MSM has been fabricating stories & amplifying mythological pro-GOP nonsense for a while now & (2) I trust Biden's abilities to handle this like he did NATO.
208.02/ Demographically, I should be part of the "elite" but the past two weeks showed me that I'm a solid true-blue member of the Democratic "base" because I'm standing by Biden-Harris & have a white-hot rage against the media (& the cowards in my party) trying to take us down.
208.03/ People ask "Why haven't the media learned their lesson from 'But Her Emails?' in 2016"?! But the answer is QED - they did learn their lesson: that with relentless bad-faith attacks they can knock out the Democrat & elect a cash-cow tabloid buffoon. They know & want this.