As discussed previously, on Fridays, I present my weekly social media roundups. Note that toots of articles generally include header images from the articles, which I don’t include here unless their creators happen to have released them for use under a free license, and I notice. Most have not, or I don’t notice. But I now add my commentary here, where I don’t feel restricted by message length.

Starting this week, as promised—or threatened—over the last couple of weeks, I now post primarily to Mastodon, with any interactions on Twitter now either coming from bots or replying to people contacting me. Therefore, the posts now refer to “toots,” and the links within them point you to the Mastodon versions of everything. And in cases where the article might hit a nerve in some, I added a content warning.

diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week

Also, I don’t generally attach pictures to posts with quotations.

9:03 – Mon 02 January 2023

5 elections to watch in 2023 — what’s at stake as millions head to the ballot box around the globe from The Conversation

If Erdoğan wins, it could portend a further erosion of the remaining opposition in Turkish public life, especially given his past record of authoritarianism and vengefulness.

This comes through with more clarity in the story below about African feminists, but I do find it interesting that the same people who have tried to alarm everyone about “globalists,” and fought every attempt at international cooperation that didn’t involve military action against brown people, have worked to build international systems to subvert democracy around the world. I don’t want to get into the “conservatives spout hypocrisy” train, because we all already know that, but I do want to point out that even they admit that nothing gets done without a tighter-knit world. They just happen to want to do bad things…

12:06 – Mon 02 January 2023

Knowledge is destroyed by associating with the base; with equals equality is gained, and with the distinguished, distinction.

Hitopadesa

9:01 – Tue 03 January 2023

The Dutch state apologizes for slavery, and the Caribbean wonders: Will reparations follow? from Global Voices

So, was the timing right? The Dutch Prime Minister suggested in his speech that there was not “one right time for everyone.”

Even though I covered my “official list” of items that I want to follow in 2023 in my New Year post, this story probably belonged there. Official recognition of the suffering caused by slavery, if it deepens and spreads, has the potential to improve life for a lot of people.

12:04 – Tue 03 January 2023

Books are pleasant, but if by being over-studious we impair our health and spoil our good humor, two of the best things we have, let us give it over. I, for my part, am one of those who think no fruit derived from them can recompense so great a loss.

Michel de Montaigne

9:06 – Wed 04 January 2023

What African feminist movements are up against in 2023 from openDemocracy

However, even though we haven’t seen any changes to the law to further restrict abortion access, the US decision has definitely re-energized anti-abortion narratives.

I realize that readers who don’t live here already know this, but it consistently shocks me to realize how centrally the United States looms in discourse around the world. It sometimes seems like everything that our government does, whether good or bad, has far-reaching effects.

12:07 – Wed 04 January 2023

To those who err in judgment, not in will, anger is gentle.

Sophocles

9:04 – Thu 05 January 2023

Health care costs increasingly outpace employee insurance from Futurity

For instance, approximately 6% of women found medical care unaffordable in 2020 compared to 3% in 2000, and roughly 3% of men said medical care was unaffordable in 2020 compared to 2% in 2000.

During this time, I’ve watched employer insurance contributions drop, too. We talk a lot, in the United States, about how our backwards insurance system locks us to employers. But it has gotten stranger than that, in that the system definitely encourages reliance on employers, even as employers back away from taking responsibility for their employees.

12:03 – Thu 05 January 2023

He is unwise who brags much either of what he will do or what he shall have, for if what he speaks of fall not out accordingly, instead of applause, a mock and scorn will follow him.

Owen Feltham

9:07 – Fri 06 January 2023

New York OKs Human Composting Law; 6th State in US to Do So from Voice of America

The organic mix creates the perfect habitat for naturally occurring microbes to do their work, quickly and efficiently breaking down the body in about a month’s time.

As I mentioned in Sunday’s post, this took me by surprise. It impresses me, though, because it doesn’t take much effort to see the need for more natural burials. We currently waste land and energy on “privatizing” the dead, going far out of our way to either prevent the body from decomposing or preventing the decomposing body from providing any benefits to the area. And sure, our biomass doesn’t amount to much, but it still seems counter-productive.

12:02 – Fri 06 January 2023

I thought within myself, I all things knew;

But when by slow degrees I somewhat learned

By aid of wise preceptors, my conceit,

Like some disease, passed off; and now I live

In the plain sense of what a fool I am.

Bhartṛhari

Bonus

Because it accidentally became a tradition early on in the life of the blog, I drop any additional articles that didn’t fit into the one-article-per-day week, but too weird or important to not mention, here.

Final Goodbye: Recalling Influential People Who Died in 2022 from Voice of America

Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022.

Honestly, I find this list overwhelming, with so many people whose work impacted how I use my time, if not always my life. And yet, I can’t help nitpicking. For example, in the entertainment category, it genuinely bothers me that Bob Saget and Kirstie Alley get lumped into the same category—and probably received more media time dwelling on their deaths, because of the era of their fame coincides with a valuable demographic’s childhood—as Sydney Poitier and Angela Lansbury. The former group starred in sitcoms, whereas the latter fought for representation and affected politics.

Credits: Header image is Circular diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week from a manuscript drafted during the Carolingian Dynasty.