Happy 🍂 autumnal—or vernal, for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere—equinox, everyone


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.

9:07 – Mon 18 September 2023

Image Not Shown: A painting from the ancient Egyptian tomb of Niankhkhum and Khnumhotep, royal servants whom some scholars have interpreted to be lovers

Ancient texts depict all kinds of people, not just straight and cis ones from The Conversation

LGBTQ-like individuals have always been here, although modern conceptions of self, gender and sexuality cannot be mapped directly onto the past.

Hashtags: #Gender #Classics #LGBTHistory

While I like the premise of the course, especially given that it talks about works thousands of years old, I wish that this article had included a full reading list.

12:01 – Mon 18 September 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

There is no doubt that education elevates the woman. The woman who possesses some knowledge always tries to keep herself at a certain moral level that helps her greatly in the fight for life, by making her better, more pure, and by guiding her steps along the path of virtue.

Jovita Idar

Hashtags: #Quotes #HispanicHeritage

9:05 – Tue 19 September 2023

Content Warning: US Politics, Right-Wing Organization

Image Not Shown: Clarence and Ginni Thomas sharing a moment

How Leonard Leo, Harlan Crow, and Ginni Thomas built the modern conservative movement from Daily Kos

The story has many, many layers beyond the dark money that seems to fund Thomas’ family.

Hashtags: #GOP #JEP #GinniThomas #HarlanCrow

I feel like I say this sort of thing a lot, but seriously, look at how much effort it takes to make authoritarianism look even mildly useful. Billions of dollars laundered through an unknown number of organizations, combined with decades of biased electoral maps and numerous campaigns to shift public opinion in their favor, and they can still only barely put their plans into motion.

12:02 – Tue 19 September 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

What of it if the darker races are getting consciousness, isn’t the world large enough for the people of all bloods to dwell therein?

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg

Hashtags: #Quotes #HispanicHeritage

9:06 – Wed 20 September 2023

The Marion County Record with a headline of "Seized but Not Silenced," surrounded by pictures of Marion and an older man in a work shirt
The Marion County Record with a headline of "Seized but Not Silenced," surrounded by pictures of Marion and an older man in a work shirt
Image credit: by Voice of America

Last of the Watchdogs from Voice of America

The raid itself became emblematic of the crisis facing local media in the United States as the industry faces cuts and attempts to curtail its role as a public watchdog.

Hashtags: #News #MarionRaid #NewsDesert

I honestly didn’t know that the Marion situation had so many overlapping issues. If you didn’t, then you’ll probably want to read this.

12:06 – Wed 20 September 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

Let us study and prepare our generation for the future struggles, which lie ahead.

Luisa Capetillo

Hashtags: #Quotes #HispanicHeritage

9:03 – Thu 21 September 2023

Image Not Shown: A radio set

The complex historical tapestry of media and music in Sudan from Global Voices

It also formed a live studio band, the Radio Omdurman Orchestra, that included violin, cello, flute, oud and guitar players. They produced a hybrid sound with European, Egyptian and Sudanese influences.

Hashtags: #Sudan #Culture #Music #Politics

This fascinates me disproportionately, though I admit that it probably won’t do so for everyone.

12:05 – Thu 21 September 2023

Quoted on Mastodon


of all the issues confronting our country today, the issue of racial and religious discrimination is at once the most neglected and the most critical.

Dennis ChĂĄvez

Hashtags: #Quotes #HispanicHeritage

9:01 – Fri 22 September 2023

Image Not Shown: Two employees carry off the Lehman Brothers sign to put up for auction

End Wealth Supremacy from OtherWords

This anniversary is an opportunity to take a step back and look at the overarching problem here: “financialization.” While we used to have an economy that manufactured stuff, now it manufactures debt.

Hashtags: #GreatRecession #Financialization #Economy

I don’t think that I can add much to this. I’ve watched the privatization movement run around the country, and can’t think of a single instance of where it has benefitted anyone except the new owner.

12:04 – Fri 22 September 2023

Quoted on Mastodon

The value of human rights is really the path to peace here.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Hashtags: #Quotes #HispanicHeritage

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.

red ladybug on blue and white rope
red ladybug on blue and white rope
Image credit: by Sören Funk, made available under the terms of the Unsplash License https://unsplash.com/photos/PCxSRkhJ6z0

Engineered microorganism breaks down plastic in salt water from Futurity

The researchers took the DNA from I. sakaiensis that is responsible for producing the enzymes that break down plastic, and incorporated that genetic sequence into a plasmid.

This, if repeatable, could change a lot about the world fairly quickly.

Image Not Shown: Members of the congregation sing during a Rosh Hashana service at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles in 2013

Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are times for soul-searching, but not on your own – community has always been at the heart of the Jewish High Holidays from The Conversation

While today observers perceive Judaism as a religion, Jewish culture is not focused on individual belief and worship so much as on an entire community and its collective relationship with God and its history.

To those celebrating, this past and next week, I hope that your community gets the most out of it.

Image Not Shown: People walk at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran on Sept, 5, 2023

Arrests Reported in Iran on Mahsa Amini’s Death Anniversary from Voice of America

The anniversary of her death was marked Saturday by a strong military presence and a general strike by tradespeople and shopkeepers in Kurdish cities across numerous provinces of Iran — along with protest rallies in cities worldwide.

A general strike, if it gains momentum, could become huge. No matter how oppressive the government, when people stop buying and selling, they quickly see how little power that they have. Fingers crossed, they could see some important change


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