Politics Plus

Yesterday, I had a grocery order coming – or, at least, I thought I did. When there was just a half hour left in the delivery window, I refreshed the tracking page and it said it had been cancelled. It appears to have been rescheduled for today in the same window – of course I will do my best to confirm that. Good thing I always try to order well ahead of need.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

No More Mister Nice Blog – Republicans Live In A Disinformation Bubble Just Like Russians
Quote – In the same way that we’ve come to realize, with astonishment, that Russians simply weren’t told that their troops had invaded Ukraine, and didn’t believe there was a war, Republican voters, I’m sure, don’t believe President Biden is doing anything effective on Ukraine’s behalf, and that only Republicans could save Ukraine. Russian citizens have an excuse for their ignorance: Media outlets that don’t toe the Kremlin line are suppressed. In America, it’s purely voluntary:
Click through for full post. From last week, but timeless – and putting information and disinformatin side by side does help us see what we are up against.

The New Yorker – The Shaming-Industrial Complex
Quote – Owen Flanagan, a professor of philosophy and neurobiology at Duke University, suggests that our tense political climate is the product of poor emotional regulation…. [T]he data-scientist-cum-journalist Cathy O’Neil suggests that shaming is structural: its ubiquity is the fault not of individual vigilantes but, rather, of the many industries that manufacture and exploit mortification for profit. At the heart of these diverging perspectives is an ambiguity built into the very concept at issue. Shame is an emotion—a person can suffer from its bilious bite, as Sacco did—but it is also a state of affairs.
Click through for full article. There’s no solution here, but lots think about. I’ll add a few thoughts of mine to the brew: Emotions cannot be controlled, but our actions in response to them can. People who shame others may need to be shamed for it, as it may be the only language they understand (however, the shameless cannot be shamed.) And anger is in itself not only a bad thing, but the only motivation for change – it’s all in how one uses it.

A military veteran knows why your employees are leaving
Quote – It has been an intense period full of unknowns. It’s hard to be self-aware enough to see the full impact of all these changes. I redeployed five times, and I got better at reintegrating each time. I had the benefit of practice, which allowed me to acknowledge what I was feeling, understand it better, and move forward. But the pandemic is a one-time thing, and most people never got a briefing from their chaplain about what to expect.
Click through for article. This is addressed to busines leaders, and it’s a couple of months old. But it has life lessons whichare far from stale. It’s sort of like a different kind of PTSD – one to which the pandemic made everyone vulnerable.

Food For Thought: