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.

diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week

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

9:02 – Mon 16 January 2023

This MLK Day, Let’s Learn the Right Lessons from History from The Conversation

…Dr. King, throughout his incredible life and career, was supported by the work of thousands of unknown and largely unsung people who made his accomplishments possible.

I sometimes wonder if institutionalized history has settled on ideas like Great Man Theory because it mischaracterizes progress as something “they” do, as opposed to something that we do all the time.

12:07 – Mon 16 January 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

The glories of our blood and state

Are shadows, not substantial things;

There is no armor against fate;

Death lays his icy hands on kings.

James Shirley

9:06 – Tue 17 January 2023

How to wake up alert and refreshed from Futurity

The researchers also discovered that a healthy controlled blood glucose response after eating breakfast is key to waking up more effectively.

Straightforward advice for people who struggle with this sort of thing.

12:02 – Tue 17 January 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare.

Harriet Martineau

9:04 – Wed 18 January 2023

How a war on porn is endangering US sex workers from openDemocracy

In San Francisco, the number of street-based sex workers tripled in 2018 and there was a 170% increase in human trafficking cases.

I knew that these laws caused problems, but this finally hangs numbers on those problems.

12:04 – Wed 18 January 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

William Blake

9:03 – Thu 19 January 2023

The Tanabra have made a comeback after 100 years. A decline in Sudanese taste in music? from Global Voices

Their melodies capture the anguish of love, deprivation, and nostalgia, as well as Bedouin and equestrian traditions.

I wouldn’t call this a critical story, but I enjoy it a lot, regardless.

12:05 – Thu 19 January 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

He who would pass his declining years with honor and comfort, should, when young, consider that he may one day become old, and remember when he is old, that he has once been young.

Joseph Addison

9:01 – Fri 20 January 2023

What is racial battle fatigue? A school psychologist explains from The Conversation

Students of color may experience racial microaggressions throughout their academic careers, beginning before college and persisting into college and university settings.

You’ll notice that, as we start to realize that racism mimics violence, we have an entire political party dedicated to trying to prevent us from talking about it, while they try to inflict the same harms onto gender and sexual minority groups. I doubt that happened accidentally.

12:01 – Fri 20 January 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.

Seneca

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.

Almost Everyone Who Organized the Capitol Riot Has Been Allowed Back on Twitter from VICE News

Musk appears to be making some decisions on account restoration himself, and many of the Jan. 6 promoters personally have thanked Musk once their accounts were restored.

I think that I’ve mentioned before that I’ve identified Musk’s likeliest goal as discrediting Twitter. Much like Peter Thiel funding bogus lawsuits to bankrupt Gawker in retaliation for mentioning the then-open secret of his sexuality, Musk wants to eliminate Twitter as a space where the media can see people opposing the policies of billionaires. He wants it to exist, but as a platform that nobody can reasonably build around.

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