#whatever nature it may be. this is simply another role of daniel for us and will be treated as such.
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CONTRACT VS. COMPACT
This posting is a short follow up to the last posting, “Spending and Saving.” In that prior posting, a simple economic factor was pointed out and related to what government’s role should be in the economy. Here is not a restatement of that relationship, but a further analysis of a point that posting made. That is, that the construct, parochial/traditional federalism, a dominant view that Americans shared in the years before World War II, was inadequate for the more modern times of American governance and politics.
In this clarification, the term parochial is central. To cite Wikipedia, one finds the following:
Parochialism is the state of mind whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of "provincialism". It may, particularly when used pejoratively, be contrasted to cosmopolitanism.[1]
It is a term this blogger originally was introduced to in his growing up years within the Catholic tradition.
He went to parochial schools for 13 years. What little questioning he expressed at the time solicited a sense that parochialism referred to the local church and local concerns – much in line with what Wikipedia states. What he was to learn and appreciate was how central this idea was to American culture until, as the last posting pointed out, the realities of a national and now global economy made this provincialism untenable.
It particularly applies to views of governance and politics in the US, since for various reasons, localism was held to be central to the American experience. The federalism that grew in the US was originally based on the local settlements that sprung up on the eastern seacoast of the North American landmass. Each was the product of settlers joining together and formulating a polity based on what was considered a sacred agreement. The word, compacts, applies to these agreements.
More specifically, as Daniel Elazar explains, these agreements were a type of compact, that being covenants.[2] In that they resembled Judeo tradition, covenants established a union in which whatever members did, they were part of that union. The signees of the agreement called on God to witness the agreement which solemnized it.
As the American people became a bit more secular – to a degree the product of the Enlightenment – this element was put aside, making the newer agreements straightforward compacts. A comparison that illustrates this turn is that the Declaration of Independence (1776) is a covenant, and the US Constitution (1787) is simply a compact. In both cases, the purpose was to hold those agreements in solemnity.
The distinctions one can make between or among the founding documents (including, for example, state constitutions) and the terms one uses to classify them have consequences. And to illustrate, a legal matter comes to mind. To further distinguish what is being described in this posting, it introduces yet another term, that being contract. Here, a historical turn – an unfortunate one – muddles the waters. And sure enough, the French have a role. No, French influence is not at odds with fortune, but in terms of constitutional principles, it does have another tradition.
The origins of this difference can be traced to Jean-Jacques Rousseau and how he envisioned the ways and reasons people organized to form polities. In doing so, they give up some natural rights – the ability to behave as they wish – to practically allow them to live under a set of laws or restrictions. This language casts a different sense from what the Judeo tradition called for.
With a social contract, one deals with a quid pro quo – something for something (personal rights for societal arrangement). This stands in distinction to a more communal sense of the Judeo model. But if applied to the Constitution, it casts that agreement with a more contractual sense and diminishes its compact-al or communal orientation.
On a practical level, for example, with a social contract – the more contractual approach – the courts, usually at the hands of conservative jurists, have elected to interpret the Constitution and laws in a literal fashion, like one interprets a contract. This is called textualism. It holds other ways to interpret – such as historically, traditionally, structurally, prudentially, morally or based on precedent – as being illegitimate to some degree.
In this singular way, one can see how this other view – the natural rights view – has drained, from the American experience, the bonding force of a communal constitutional framework. The consequences have been numerous and have most recently included the palpable sense of a politically polarized citizenry. As the last posting concluded, a form of federalism – a compact approach – would benefit the American people by reintroducing a more communal sense – with hopefully less parochialism – to its constitutional view.
[1] See “Parochialism,” Wikipedia (n.d.), accessed January 9, 2024, URL: Parochialism - Wikipedia.
[2] This blog has repeatedly cited Elazar. For a more recent citing, see “Compact Theory of the U.S. Constitution,” Center for the Study of Federalism (n.d.), accessed January 9, 2024, URL: https://encyclopedia.federalism.org/index.php/Compact_Theory_of_the_U.S._Constitution.
#parochial#provincial#federalism#compact#contract#textualism#natural rights#civics education#social studies
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anon requested: "please do a gif set of Fredrick Zoller’s costumes in Inglourious Basterds"
DANIEL BRÜHL starring as Fredrick Zoller in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS | dir. Quentin Tarantino (2009)
#disclaimer: this blog does think this request is a bit odd and we distance ourselves from any kind of nazi-glorification#whatever nature it may be. this is simply another role of daniel for us and will be treated as such.#daniel brühl#daniel bruhl#filmedit#danielbrühledit#request#fredrick zoller#inglourious basterds#userlindir#userrutledge#userkraina#userangel#*#by tammy#cw nazis#cw guns
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British YouTuber, presenter, and author Daniel Howell offers a practical yet poignant look into mental health – his own struggles held up as a mirror for anyone else going through the same – in his book You Will Get Through This Night.
Written in conjunction with psychologist Dr Heather Bolton, the book is an amalgamation of Howell’s own experiences and Dr Bolton’s expert perspective combined to create a reading that feels like a personal attack in the best of ways, forcing you confront, embrace and then overcome your perception of your own mental health.
Best described as, “a practical guide to taking control of your mental health for today, tomorrow, and the days after,” You Will Get Through This Night takes readers through Howell’s mental health journey, wrapped in his trademark sense of humour and nuggets of wisdom that urge them forwards in their path to a healthier mindset.
Speaking to 1883, Howell describes what pushed him to write the book, learning to question his normal, how upbringing and culture impacts one’s perception of mental health, the role that a sense of humour plays in getting the conversation around mental health started and more.
Was there a particular moment that solidified your decision to write this book?
I think it was just realizing the power that every single person has to tell their story and break down the wall. Because with mental health, it’s the thing that every single person has a universal experience of. And yet, we all like to go, ‘I’m fine,’ when we’re completely having a meltdown on the inside and it was me opening up, not because I thought it was a nice idea just because I thought I had to open up about what I was going through with my depression, my sexuality. I went through 27 years of terrible mental health, without even realizing that you’re not supposed to be that way. It’s the idea that we all think we are broken, born in a certain way and doomed to feel that way forever, and that’s fundamentally wrong. I thought I’d like to write this book because other people may see themselves in it, notice that they relate to something, and therefore maybe there’s something about themselves that they need to work on. I literally I just wrote the book that I wish I could have read, because for me it was a struggle to even find the resources and the advice I needed.
You’ve mentioned in the book, that you never questioned your symptoms and that you were taken aback when the doctor said you were suffering from depression. But where there moments before that you started questioning this perception of what was normal to you?
I think it became my normal to feel bad all the time, which sounds dramatic but it was me. I thought it was all to do with my choices, age, environment and my job. But mental health is deeper than that, it’s something deeper and it’s something that you can actually have a positive effect on, which is what I wish I knew earlier, and it only happened when I got to a point where I was struggling, so much that I couldn’t even function day-to-day. In my mind, there was either nothing or there’s crazy. I thought you just have to get over your problems or you are totally crazy, which is so ignorant but that’s just not the truth. So, I went to a doctor and he said I think you might have depression and that is a real thing. And there’s lots that you can do about it. It’s about just understanding everything to do with how your thoughts and feelings work, the relationship between your biology and how you interact with the world physically. It was such a slow and painful journey to learn all of that that I thought, I’m just going to put it all in here and the idea is that for someone who picks up this book, they can go right in. I’ll put it up on the shelf and then when I need to read it, I’m going to pick it up and open it again. So, I just wanted to be super practical.
I really liked this quote in the book “breakdown can be breakthroughs”. So, when was the last time you can think of that a breakdown led to a breakthrough for you?
Every other week, like you know, all of us. It’s just human instinct to try and stick through it and ignore the problems especially with work. It’s a great excuse to lie, “ I know I feel bad but I’m really busy.” And it goes like that until things get way too intense. For me, there were moments where I felt I simply cannot keep going in my career or day-to-day life or try to pretend like I’m funny, until I deal with the fact that I’m gay. And though there was this terrible feeling like “have I hit rock bottom?” But the thing with any obstacle is that it stops you from going in the wrong direction and when you are forced to turn around usually it means you’re confronting the truth for the first time. Usually if someone has a breakdown, if you hit that wall in your life, that point where you absolutely can’t keep going until you turn around and something scary is going to be waiting, it means you’re going in the right direction. When you have these moments of confrontation, instead of procrastinating or running away, if you face it then it’s hopefully better days ahead.
Speaking of procrastination, you talk about burnout and the five-minute rule in one section. How do you strike a balance between not procrastinating and getting things done, but also not overworking yourself?
The human concept of work is very strange and it’s just one of those great examples of something that we’ve all brainwashed ourselves to see a certain way, to put value on certain things that are ultimately probably not great and inevitably lead to another dramatic moment of self-destruction and procrastination, which are both associated with so much guilt and shame.But in reality it’s not because I’m lazy that I don’t want to start this thing, it’s probably I’m terrified of starting this thing because I know that it’s important, I don’t want to fail at it. So, think of the five minute rule as ripping the plaster off, because it’s always the fear of starting. That was me, writing this book and feel like I’m not in the mood to do that, but then moment I start then I’d just write for consecutive hours. Again, it’s just snapping out of the mindset that you’re probably on, which goes I’m doing this because it’s important, and I have to do it. You probably don’t have to do it, you’re probably just running from something else. So, whether you are procrastinating, you think you’re lazy, or you’re telling yourself that you have to put up all of your issues to deal with whatever you’re busy with, you need to flip it around and look at it, not just from in healthier way but in more honest way. I’m not going to cripple myself with guilt and shame about procrastination but I’m not going to over work myself.
You’ve also written about how one of the worst things you can say to someone going through depression is to get over it. What’s the hardest of trying to get people to understand that it isn’t something you can get over?
I think you cannot underestimate how profoundly ignorant most of the world still is about mental health and that’s not people’s fault. It’s just that science, education and culture has just not been doing the right thing even if science recently has come a long way. We’ve got hundreds of years of stigma that come from. Breaking down the barriers, by being honest, with someone one-to-one is a great way to do that. And it just telling them “I’m not going to pretend that everything’s fine. I just want to tell you that, I feel that way.” And for a lot of people who say they don’t understand depression, anxiety etc, if just say I feel bad and I want to do something about it, people usually empathize with it. I also think lot of people want not take it seriously when other people say that because they feel like where was their help when they needed it? I think that the human nature is usually to feel almost jealous that someone else is asking for help or sympathy and they want to get better but you have to talk back to that voice and say maybe this is an opportunity for me to finally, be honest about how I might have been feeling the whole time. Because at some point you have to break the cycle.
Though you’ve said how you can’t underestimate how ignorant people can be, there’s a section of the book where you talk about how you uploaded your video, “Basically, I’m gay,” and braced for negativity. But that you were surprised by all the positive responses. So, what’s the most recent instance you can think of where you were pleasantly surprised by humanity?
Something that anyone that has to admit something, they’re going through and has in common, whether that’s something that’s come out as gay or someone just admitting that they’re just really stressed or feeling very anxious, is feeling like they have to constantly explain themselves. This is just an example of how you can be afraid of what people will say but when you’re really just honest about something that you’re going through, people usually relate to it on a day-to-day level. Whenever I talk to someone about mental health or sexuality, who may think its weird at first but as I describe my thoughts and feelings, they may relate to it even if they aren’t going through exact same thing as you. For me, a year after coming out and I still have that conversation on a daily basis. As a teenager, I had that deathly fear, that I couldn’t tell anyone because it would be terrible, but now I realize that actually most people are just scared. They aren’t inherently hateful; they’re just putting up that wall because they think that being vulnerable leaves them for attack. But actually, if we’re all vulnerable we’d be a lot happier.
Speaking of vulnerability, you touch upon your upbringing in the book and how it sort of taught you to keep a stiff upper lip. When did you start learn to be vulnerable and what was the biggest challenge with that?
Being a young British man, going to an all-boys school or the comedians that I looked up to on TV – everyone was so cynical. It was about trying to be as like edgy as possible and like act tough, and not show this vulnerability in case it’s seen as weakness. I think that I carried this perception all the way into my mid-20s, it seeped into every part of my personality. A lot of the stuff that I made, when I was younger, had this cynical edge to it and it was only when I started to get more followers from around the world that I began people started questioning that cynicism. At first, I’d go “this is British humour,” but a few years later, I just started to reflect about the way I was about myself and realized it was a bit more than a joke have, I actually started to let this self-hatred and the lack of empathy towards how I feel sort of eat me up. I think because only because of the people who have followed me over the years, giving me a reflection of who I am through how they’ve perceived me that I’ve been able to break free of my default programming.
About your sense of humour and how you kind of make sense of how you’re feeling through jokes, have you ever felt misunderstood -particularly given the cultural differences of your audiences you just mentioned – like you’re trying to make light of something that a lot of people suffer from?
Yeah, there’s a weird line and there’s lots of conversations these days about what you’re allowed to joke about. What the difference between talking about something, being comfortable with it and almost glamorizing it. But I think if the biggest problem with mental health globally is people don’t even want to admit that they’re wrong. And that they don’t even know that they were wrong. A bunch of people joking about how depressed they feel could be a good thing because they have at least taken the first step. So, I think it’s good that people can joke about things in a way that breaks the ice as long as they all know, in the same way that my book might make them feel very personally attacked that just behind that joke that you put up to protect yourself, there is something that you should work on. Even if it’s painful, that it will make you happier.
You mention celebrating small wins in the book. What win are you celebrating today?
I have just moved house and I have a toilet that doesn’t flush yet. But I managed to stick a coat hanger, inside the toilet and to make it flush. I just got my own toilet to flush, and for me, that’s such a miracle. It was a perfect example of how we take so many things for granted in life, whether it’s something huge to do with your health, the state of the world, your privilege. But I now have a flushing toilet and everything else felt easy. I can handle it because I got some perspective.
You also touch on the importance of inner circles in the book. , When was the last time, you personally reached out to bring someone into your inner circle and do you remember how you did it?
I am so awkward and awful at making friends and it’s something that usually, I’ll have one of those breakdowns where I go, “I have no friends.” The next day, I’ll wake up and DM people, out of every three people I DM two-point-nine will just ignore me and I will be very embarrassed. But then one of them will say “ yes, in two and a half weeks, we will go get a pizza.” And you only have to succeed a couple times ever to make friends that you hopefully will see more than once. I know from experience, it can be embarrassing, painful and not fun to try and reach out to new people but you just start adding one person, every two years until you have a friend group.
While working on this book, I know you consulted with a psychologist for it, aside from your lived experiences. What did you learn about mental health while looking at it from an outside, expert perspective?
I think one of the biggest revelations for me while writing this book is realizing how much of it isn’t a logical thought in our head. So much of mental health is controlled by our body, and the physical things that we experience. It’s about just how we breathe, how much light, and fresh air. And the problem is in our modern world, our brains are looking at everything as a threat. As soon as you realize actually, humans are not as complicated and mysterious as we think, we’re just little animals trying not to get murdered. It was freeing to know because that meant we aren’t born with this magically broken consciousness, that’s just doomed. It definitely made me look at mental health for what it is rather than the mysterious fog of pain that I thought it was for the last 10 years that I had absolutely no control over.
You’ve said that you’re obviously not done with your mental health journey, but where are you on that journey at this moment in time?
I’m doing a lot better than I was simply because I can understand what I feel, and why, and that it’s normal now. And I honestly feel like that’s 90% of it. Most people don’t ever question their lives. If they spend too much time, feeling overwhelming you stressed or if they worry too much and they’re just not enjoying life day-to-day. But just knowing that there’s something you can do about, it gives me enough hope. From writing the book, I know everything I can do to get better.
Finally, what’s one question no one has asked you so far that you wish you were asked?
I think it’s just how do I convince the other people in my life to take mental health seriously? I realized from writing this book and now, talking about it that the biggest problem I have is that most people simply do not think the conversation about mental health, or mental health, applies to them because they’re fine. So many people think mental health is only something for people that have crippling depression or serious anxiety disorder, but it’s just how all of us, think and feel all the time. If you have bad self-esteem, if you worry about everything, if you have a way of looking at the world that’s really negative and you expect the worst, then you might not need to immediately have an intervention with a psychotherapist, but you need to understand your mental health. Even if you read this book and say you are totally fine, then you still need to know this stuff so you can understand why you are fine. There will be a point in life where you need to make yourself feel better and mental health isn’t about waiting until you snap, and then picking up the pieces and going on medication. It should be about knowing how to keep yourself healthy and happy so that you don’t have a breakdown. Everyone has mental health, and that’s the thing that I wish I could just shove into everyone’s faces.
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The Shakers: Beliefs
Christian Vocation
The Shaker is called to manifest the Spirit of Christ to the world through their life and character, a world in which the will and purpose of God is largely forgotten. God calls by many ways, but all men and women, whatever their occupation or profession, are called to that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (see Hebrews 12:14). To anyone who knows the history of Shakerism, it is evident that God has used the very small groups of humble men and women who have constituted our order to build His Kingdom on Earth (see Daniel 2:44). Truly, He has "chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty (see 1 Corinthians 1:27)." To this day, we continue to build upon the same foundation found in our online school.
The Godhead
To Believers, God is the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Great First Cause. It is He who called into being all things visible and invisible. He has existed from the very beginning of time and will exist into all eternity. God is pure spirit and as such, quite naturally incorporeal. Having no body, God has no sex in our human understanding of the term; yet being pure spirit He may best be thought of by man with his limited power of comprehension as having the attributes of both maleness and femaleness. This duality of attributes within God's oneness is one of the Shaker theological concepts most misunderstood by the world, yet it is not a Shaker concept, but rather one as old as the Judaeo-Christian tradition itself. We find it again and again in the Old Testament. It is to the writer of Genesis that we may attribute the first written record of the idea. In the 27th verse of the first chapter of Genesis he writes: "So God created he him; male and female created he them." The Shaker emphasis upon God's dual nature was never intended to convey anything but the fact that God, being pure spirit is possessed, within the terms of our human power of discernment, of the characteristics, of strength, power, wisdom, compassion and mercy.
Christology
We have already alluded to a marked degree of misunderstanding of Shaker views about the duality of the Godhead. Certainly there is no area in which there is greater, more fundamental misunderstanding, than Shaker Christology. If we may engage for a moment in the odious practice of labeling, we might say that mainstream Shaker Christological thought is adoptionist of the view that Jesus was not the Christ or the anointed of God from his birth, but rather from the occasion of his baptism by John in the Jordan. To the early Shakers as well as to other Christians before them the descent of the dove at Jesus' baptism symbolized the anointing spirit of God whose voice is heard to say: "Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." The Divine nature of Jesus, the Christ, was freely recognized by Believers. The adoptionist theory affected in no way their attitudes towards his birth or earlier life. We find in Shaker thoughts no attempt to challenge the virgin birth or any of the other miraculous occurrences surrounding Jesus' beginnings. These were to Believers a sign of God's prior choice of Jesus as the recipient of the anointing spirit. Jesus' life and ministry, his teaching, his sacrificial death became for Believers their holy rule. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they did not look for the return of Jesus Christ in the flesh. They sought his return in the spirit--the Christ Spirit--the anointing spirit of God, the spirit of love and truth. To Mother Ann Lee was given the inner realization that Christ's Second Appearing was a quiet, almost unheralded one within individuals open to the anointing of His spirit.
Mother Ann Lee, the Bride of Christ is not Christ, nor did she claim to be. She is simply the helpmete, Second Eve and first of many Believers wholly embued by His Spirit and wholly consumed by His love. Mother's attitude toward her own role is related more than once in her own recordings saying, "It is not I that speaks; it is Christ who dwells in me," she says, testifying both to the indwelling of Christ and her subservience to Him. The closeness of her bond to Him whom she ever called her Lord and Savior is reflected by her having said, "I have been walking with Christ in heavenly union. Christ is ever with me, both in sitting down and in rising up; in going out and in coming in. If I walk in groves and valleys, there He is with me and I converse with Him as one friend converses with another, face to face." She solves conclusively the question of her own role when she remarks at Ashfield, "The second appearing of Christ is in His Church."
Confession of Sin
All future Shakers are required to "open their minds" through a complete and honest confession of all known sin that comes to mind since the days of their youth to God in the presence of His Shaker witnesses. This is not a confession to man, but a confession to God and His Christ, who has appeared the Second time without sin unto salvation in His witnesses.
Virgin Purity
All Shaker's practice Celibacy or "Virgin Purity". We live as Christ and the Angels do in Heaven (See the Shaker School).
Community of Goods
The desire to die to self leads the Shaker quite naturally to the pooling of goods. The Christian's task is to live in the present moment and not to store for tomorrow the bread that comes from heaven. Those who give up all material things for the sake of the Gospel learn by that same Gospel that they may learn to live without assurance of the morrow in joyous confidence that they will lack nothing. The spirit of Christian poverty is more than the absence of wealth. The New Testament never condemns wealth as such, only when a person's possessions come between him and God is there any real danger. A Christian who wishes with all of his heart for money to use selfishly is violating the spirit of community; a man who regards all that he has as a trust from God, and uses it for His glory is living in the true spirit of Christian poverty.
Pacifism
We strive daily to put into practical terms, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The central teaching of the New Testament is quite simply love, the love of God for man and that of man for God as evidenced in the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. This same love was always and is today the very cornerstone of Shakerism. For us as followers of the Christ we feel we show that peace as pacifists. This does not mean merely refusing to bear arms against another, it also requires us to never feel bitterness, never to feel any desire for revenge, but always to seek only the highest good of every person no matter what they may do to us. We further believe in the practice of universal Brotherhood as well as equality for all, the Shakers being forerunners in applying this to our daily life over two hundred years ago.
A Faith for Today
Shakerism is not, as many would claim, an anachronism; nor can it be dismissed as the final sad flowering of nineteenth century liberal utopian fervor. Shakerism has a message for the this present age--a message as valid today as when it was first expressed. It teaches above all else that God is Love and that our most solemn duty is to show forth that God who is love in the World. Shakerism teaches God's immanence through the common life shared in Christ's mystical body. It values human fulfillment highly and believes that we fulfill ourselves best by being nothing more nor less than ourselves. It believes that Christian love is a love beyond disillusionment, for we cannot be disillusioned with people being themselves. Surely God would not have it otherwise for it is in being ourselves--our real selves--that we are most like Christ in his sacred oneness.
[Source]
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@coulsonx asked: 💘 you know whomst
send me 💘 + A SHIP and i’ll tell you—
where they first met and how
SHIELD. jessica was being pulled in about a particular situation that involved her and a few avengers getting into an altercation (relation to kilgrave’s influence on her and the ordered hit placed on daredevil and confusing him for scarlet witch). agent coulson was greeted with a very fed up and pissed off jessica that wanted nothing to do with SHIELD for having the audacity to ask her to join the agency in the aftermath of the incident. the information that was given to him did not seem like it was enough to fully grasp exactly the root of why she vehemently denied joining the avengers and SHIELD. although she didn’t apologize, she did feel apologetic for coming off strongly towards an agent that was simply doing his job.
how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved?
oh, their flirting phase never ended and it never will. jones and coulson refuse to believe that it ends when their feelings were finally said and admitted to one another. she usually starts it off with something small and subtle, coulson eats it up and goes bigger with his teasing. it’s really sweet and playful.
who fell for who first ( if applicable )
coulson was the one that caught deep feelings for jessica first. a little bit later down the line before not speaking to each other for several years, she caught feelings for him. it was the only time where she felt like she would never see him again so she bottled up her emotions in a jar and locked it away for ten years.
where their first date was and what it was like
the carnival along the piers in new york was a simple enough date. she disliked the loud crowd so they went just when the crowd was dying out, letting them enjoy some intimacy, she got to spend time with coulson in a better mindset as they never had a first date until they started talking to each other again. and for once, the date actually went well. she got to crack a few smiles and laugh genuinely with him. he took her home and gave her a small prize that he won for her. it was sentimental and very sweet.
who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? )
this one’s very equal. coulson gets creative when he wants to. sometimes, it just comes out as a what if question. he’ll shoot her a text to go to dinner or asking her to attend some gathering as undercover (a rare occasion as he does his best not to get her involved out of protection) jessica, on the other hand, doesn’t like to beat around the bush. she’ll just ask if he wants coffee with her or take a walk at night or go to some theater to watch a movie. jessica is very lowkey and simple.
who proposes first
oddly enough, the proposal was initially a joke between them. jessica was the one to ask coulson seriously after a long time of just toying around with the idea (even if the subject barely came up, it was still a joke to them both)
if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away
at first, it was a mutual agreement for their relationship to be private. they don’t like being distracted from their work and they both didn’t want to hear any backlash or comments about their intimacy. slowly but surely after civil war and after all the dust was settled, growing closer to each other was the only subject left for both of them to really work on. at that point, jessica did not care of coulson went around telling everyone that he was in a relationship with her.
where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? )
it happened on one of their midnight strolls, passing by central park (much farther from her apartment). although hand in hand, she didn’t have a ring on her like she wanted to. it felt like summer outside, slightly humid with a little breeze. they stayed out for a few hours just laying in the grass to look up at the stars, far apart from anyone who could pass by. she felt the need to take a moment and ask if he would marry her.
if they adopt any pets together
on the farm, they have plenty of feral cats, a few goats, chickens. a nice sized patch of land to have their pets run around.
who’s more dominant
jessica seems to have the dominance a good chunk of the time when she wants to claim it and coulson isn’t not afraid to let her have that role. however, it would easily switch over to coulson for his authoritative nature.
where their first kiss was and what it was like
just outside of her favorite bar, in the alleyway when she likes to grab a drink if she doesn’t want to be in the apartment. it was actually slow and sweet at first, they were both cautious enough to test the waters with each other until they just consumed each other.
if they have any matching couples stuff ( mugs? sweaters? pillowcases? )
i don’t think they do it on purpose. she leans towards wearing dark colors anyway so there’s a chance that they’ll end up being matchy-matchy. like they both have a love for wearing band tees so it won’t be surprising if one of them is wearing the other’s shirt. (jessica wears oversized band tees so it fits coulson anyway.)
how into pda they are
they both love their privacy. coulson will sneak in a hand hold and it won’t bother her too much but she does get nervous and she’ll reel back into her shell. it took a minute for her to be completely comfortable with just holding his hand in public. it was nothing against him, she’s just very shy about who’s in her business but at the end of the day, they both believe it’s not anyone’s concern to butt in.
who holds the umbrella when it rains
coulson because he’s the tol one and jessica is too stubborn to carry an umbrella.
where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable )
anywhere that gives them intimacy, whether it’s in some restaurant that overlooks the city or at each other’s places. there’s no particular ‘date spot’ per say.
who’s more protective
jessica is more protective of coulson, regardless of his skillset. ofc she’s physically stronger but verbally cuts through anyone who wants to step to him, even if he can handle himself perfectly fine.
how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ )
literally -- it took them a week. and that’s the longest she’s waited to jump into bed with someone because she has a lot of respect for coulson.
if they argue about anything
about each other’s sleeping habits, jessica potentially relapsing, each other’s safety (that’s a big one), secrets that unveil themselves that hurts the other emotionally (i.e jessica finding out that coulson died and came back to life) they don’t have shouting matches but they do have heated arguments.
who leaves more marks ( lipstick, hickeys, scratchmarks etc. )
coulson at first but it shifted over to jessica very quickly.
who steals whose clothes and how often
jess is the thief who takes his shirts, hoodies, dress shirts, etc. whatever she finds to be comfortable and reminds her of coulson? it’s hers. it mostly happens if she’s run out of clothes to wear which is some of the time. coulson hide ur pjs.
how they cuddle ( spooning? facing each other? )
coulson is the little spoon to her big spoon. there is nothing in the entire world that she loves more than to hug from behind and just bury her face in his neck and back. she feels at home and very safe around him.
what their favourite nonsexual activity is
playing uno is their top favorite because it means that they have to dare each other to do stupid things like prank call the avengers tower.
how long they stay mad at each other
they may need a little space for a day or two, depending on their schedules. they’ve never gone more than a week from not talking to each other. if coulson is overseas on a mission, it never hurts to make a phone call just to see if she’s okay and vice versa.
what their usual coffee / tea orders are
jessica likes her coffee semi-sweet while he drinks his straight black.
if they ever have any children together
they raise danielle together and have a few pets when they leave downstate for upstate. it’s possible that they would have another child together just to really settle down but danielle is all that she and coulson are focusing on.
if they have any special pet names for each other
‘sweetheart‘ is a big sarcastic pet name. jess and coulson are comfortable being assholes to one another for the sake of being funny. there’s really no special nickname for them.
if they ever split up and / or get back together
they have broken up and gotten back together ten years later. it wasn’t very harsh the first time, they simply understood that they both needed to fix themselves before anything serious were to happen. on jessica’s end, it didn’t seem that way and she took it bitterly, feeling like she invested in a little more than she thought she did. they didn’t / couldn’t reach out to each other sooner due to certain circumstances.
what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? )
together at the farm, it’s an organized clutter. not very messy but you’ll see items that are always used readily placed to be picked up again. there’s no specific style to their farm other than it’s a farmhouse so there’s a flare of country living but much more modern for the both of them.
what their first christmas / hanukkah / etc as a couple was like
hm. their first holiday felt like more pressure than what there needed to be, at least for jess. i think in celebration of holidays, it’s very subtle and fun in their own way. it’s the only time where jessica doesn’t really celebrate because she had no one to celebrate it with / didn’t care of it as much. ever since she had danielle, her perspective changed a lot. add coulson into that mix and she’s way more optimistic and considerate of the people that surround her.
what their names are in each other’s phones
for coulson it’s just ‘jessica’ and for her it’s ‘super agent’ because she’s cute like that.
if they have any ‘couple traditions’ ( buying a new mug for their collection every year? baking every friday evening? )
make out in some alleyway, apparently LOL i think after they move to upstate, they take danielle to downstate at least a few times a year so she can get the best of both worlds.
who falls asleep first and who wakes up first
it depends on who’s more tired and who’s willing to wake up with the sun. jessica definitely sleeps in but she’s not always the first to fall asleep. sometimes she’ll wait for coulson to sleep first before she drifts off just in case he wanted to stay up and get his mind off.
who’s the big spoon / little spoon
coulson is the little spoon most of the time. jessica likes to be big spoon because he’s very comfortable to hold.
who hogs the bathroom
neither of them, i don’t think?
who kills the spiders / takes them outside
they’re both spider killers. danielle is the one that takes them outside.
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What we don't know about parasites in our changing world could be deadly
https://sciencespies.com/environment/what-we-dont-know-about-parasites-in-our-changing-world-could-be-deadly/
What we don't know about parasites in our changing world could be deadly
In the salt water marshes of southern California, a splashing killifish is easy prey for a hungry shorebird. Like a jerking marionette, the helpless creature shimmies and flashes on the surface of the water. And all the while, hiding deep in its brain, an invisible other quietly pulls the strings.
The puppeteer in question is the super-abundant parasitic flatworm known as Euhaplorchis californiensis. Throughout its life, this one parasite will infect no less than three animals, and a bird’s intestine is the final destination it wants to reach.
To get there, the parasite’s larva must penetrate a killifish, crawl to its brain and lay down a carpet of cysts, which it then uses to manipulate the host’s swimming, sending it thrashing to the surface.
As it happens, infected killifish are preyed on by birds some 10 to 30 times more, which means that parasites are essentially increasing the amount of resources available in the ecosystem: a relationship we often overlook in the natural world.
The story of the infected fish is a tantalising peak backstage, but it’s also a reminder of our sheer ignorance. As the world’s climate changes, we can’t ignore our parasites any longer.
A parasitic dark matter
Though often hidden to the human eye, parasites are, by some estimates, more than half of all known species on Earth. What’s more, they can influence virtually every other free-living animal.
Humans alone play host to nearly 300 types of parasitic worm, and around a third of us are currently infected, whether knowingly or not, with at least one.
They’re everywhere, on all sides, maybe even inside. And yet when we picture a classic food chain, how many of us remember the lions, zebras and grass, only to forget their hidden puppeteers?
Compared to free-living species, scientists have collected relatively scant information on parasites. Historically dominated by medical researchers and overlooked by ecologists and conservationists (Darwin himself viewed them as “degenerates“), these organisms are often entirely missing from modern depictions of food chains; even though, in the average ecosystem, parasite–host links actually outnumber predator–prey links.
Only in the last 30 years or so have we realised our mistake.
(Cizauskas et al., Royal Society Open Science, 2017)
Above: Global distribution of parasite climate change research. Research on parasitic species is disproportionately oriented towards human emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), especially in countries where the majority of parasite research occurs.
When parasites like E. californiensis are included in the ecology of California’s salt marshes, the classic food web – with a few predators at the top and lots of smaller species on the bottom – is almost literally “turned on its head“.
“Essentially,” the authors of a 2008 paper explain, “a second web appears around the free-living web, and this completely changes the level of connectivity.”
Parasites are thus described as a sort of hidden “dark matter“, not only in our ecosystems but also in our models of infection. When Chelsea Wood, a parasite ecologist at the University of Washington, first started researching mass fishing nearly 15 years ago, she told ScienceAlert that we had virtually no idea how this practice might impact resident parasites.
Even now, she adds, when ecosystems are facing unprecedented changes, we have only the foggiest idea how more than half the species on Earth are coping.
Whether acknowledged or not, parasites are key indicators and shapers of healthy communities, influencing the survival and reproduction of whole host populations, causing food web cascades or even epidemics.
Some call them the “omnipresent agents of natural selection“, others the “ultimate missing links“, still others the “invisible puppeteers“.
Whatever the label, it’s about time we consider the parasite.
Shooting in the dark
If the history of medical science has taught us anything, Wood argues, it’s that the emergence of a new infectious disease can go unnoticed for a long time: the tale of HIV, jumping from primates to humans decades before we recognised it as a global epidemic, is a prime example.
Today, a similar story might be unfolding in our oceans, like a shadow, creeping up the wall behind us.
“We really are just starting to scratch the surface on whether a changing world means rising rates of infectious disease,” Wood told ScienceAlert.
In the last few years, scientists have grown ever more concerned that our planet is not only getting warmer, it’s also altering the spread and distribution of parasitic diseases.
A recent finding, not yet published by Wood’s lab, indicates that from 1978 to 2015, there was a 280-fold increase in Anisakis simplex, a cold water nematode responsible for some 20,000 cases of herring worm disease, usually contracted from eating raw or undercooked seafood.
Whether the trend is due to fishing, climate change or something else, is hard to say for now. In Arctic waters, where this nematode flourishes and climate change is at its worst, we often lack baseline and long-term data, even for the best known parasites and their diseases.
Unfortunately, this means our future projections can often fall short of the rich reality.
The domino effects of climate change on parasites and their hosts. (Cizauskas et al., Royal Society Open Science, 2017)
The latest climate-parasite models are trying to fill-in this blindspot, incorporating not only climate data, but also information on parasitic life cycles, ranges, and opportunities for new hosts.
The initial results suggest that climate change will play a much larger role in disease transfer than we once thought. But what that specifically means for bird-flu, human malaria, A. simplex or other parasitic diseases remains unresolved.
After all, wherever there’s few data, there’s plenty of doubt. Even Wood, who directly measures parasite prevalence, admits that her research may well contain a sneaking bias. Researchers, you see, tend to pay more attention to those parasites that matter to humans.
“No one cares about parasites that are diminishing into extinction, because they don’t hurt people, they don’t hurt animals, they don’t cause outbreaks, they don’t ruin your fish fillet, they don’t crawl across your plate at the sushi restaurant,” Wood explains.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t a vital part of our ecology. While an increase or change in parasite populations will no doubt have serious repercussions for health and agriculture, the flip side may well entail ecological upheaval. Some parasites are certain to flourish, while others will likely decline and go extinct.
A 2017 study on 457 parasite species predicts that five to 10 percent are committed to this fate by 2070, solely from climate-driven habitat loss. The researchers went on to create the first “red list” for parasites.
“Accounting for host-driven coextinctions,” the authors write, “models predict that up to 30 [percent] of parasitic worms are committed to extinction, driven by a combination of direct and indirect pressures.”
Will the aforementioned E. californiensis number among these wormy losers? Will another invasive parasite take its place? What then will happen to the size, distribution and abundance of killifish? The hungry shorebird? The precious salt marshes? The humans who rely on them?
Gathering answers on the complexities of parasite-host dynamics in all the thousands of mammal and bird species is a simply impossible task, says Konstans Wells, a parasite ecologist and modeller at Swansea University.
“We need more data for certain aspects,” he told ScienceAlert, “but we certainly can’t sample everything and we also can’t wait with the modelling because there is always a need to make better forecasting or maps where diseases are being distributed.”
As the clock ticks, researchers must act like ghostbusters, hunting down invisible foes, diseases that don’t yet exist or have yet to re-emerge in some new unexpected location.
Danielle Claar, a postdoc working in Wood’s lab, is studying the effect of El Niño events in the parasite-rich Tropics, because she says these can act as windows into future warming. Others in the team are sifting through countless museum samples and old journals for evidence of the past.
“When you arrive into science you think everyone’s got everything figured out,” Wood says.
“But as you get deeper in you realise there’s so much we don’t know. It’s staggering.”
As the climate crisis takes a firm grip, squeezing some parasites out and holding on to others, what we don’t know could very will kill many. And that goes for both parasites and humans alike.
A version of this article was first published in June 2019.
#Environment
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Introduction to Lois Lane (under the cut for length)
Lois was born August 17th, 1984 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Ramstein Air Force Base. She was born to General Samuel Lane and Ella (nee' Tsai) Lane. Her mother is an American born of Taiwanese descent and her maternal grandparents are from Taipei, Taiwan. Lois speaks English, French, Spanish, and Mandarin fluently, and knows enough German to get by. She is also a 3rd degree black belt in karate having trained in hand to hand combat.
Lois' mother Ella died of cancer when she was only six, and Lucy was four. As a result, Lois had to take on the role of mother figure for her younger sister and she didn't have much of a childhood herself. Sam was not equipped to raise daughters, especially by himself. Being a five star army General, he was more familiar with soldiers, and he treated Lois much more like one of his soldiers than a daughter.
Lois very much tried to shield Lucy from that life, trying to make her sister's childhood as normal as possible, which led to Lois becoming closed off as an adult due to never truly getting a normal childhood.
After graduation college with a degree in Journalism, Lois was lucky enough to get a job at the Daily Planet. It wasn't great at first. She was mostly writing puff pieces, but sheer determination and will led to her becoming one of the best reporters the paper has ever seen.
She met Clark Kent shortly after beginning work at the Planet, when he came to work there too. After being partnered with him, it was anything but love at first sight. In fact, it was probably the opposite for Lois. She was determined not to let the small town farm boy get through her walls. But, he did anyway.
Despite her initial resistance, Lois couldn't help but fall in love with her partner, which caused some turmoil and a bit of a love triangle due to her amorous feelings for his alter ego, Superman, who Lois was initially in the dark about. However, she reconciled her feelings for Superman, realizing that it was truly Clark who held her heart and it was then that she found out they were one and the same.
They have been happily married now for a few years and Lois is finding that there is nothing more natural than balancing their work partnership with their marital partnership. However, they faced their first huge hurdle when Clark was killed, devastating Lois. Not only was she grieving her husband but she had to do so privately, because to the world it was Superman who was dead. She had to come up with an elaborate cover for Clark's disappearance while at the same time processing her grief.
And then came his resurrection and the joy of their reunion, and the couple has realized life is far too short. So, they have decided to try for a child. But, despite their best efforts, they've had no success and Lois is becoming discouraged. She is secretly worried that Clark's physiology may prevent him from having a child with a woman from Earth, but she hasn't yet voiced these concerns to her husband.
****Below, I will share my writing sample. Please note, it is not necessarily canon to this plot, as it was from a previous rp, so while certain elements may be utilized here, this should not be considered canon to this plot unless otherwise specified. It is simply to give you all a better idea of my interpretation of Lois.****
Lois had been terrified when Clark had been missing. Not only was the world falling apart, but her husband wasn’t there. She knew him well enough to know that if he could’ve been there, he would’ve and so that was her first sign that something was wrong.
The events of the last few days had exhausted her. She’d complained when Clark insisted she be taken to the hospital but she agreed to go. And now, two days later, she was being released. Her body still ached and she was a bit tired, but there were other things to focus on. Like the fact that Clark was ready to retire the cape.
Lois would support whatever decision her husband made, but she needed him to understand what it was he was giving up. She smiled and leaned her head against him. “I’m fine, Clark.” She murmured, softly. She’d been very lucky. “It’s okay, we can drive.”
However, as they opened the door, Lois tensed up in shock. Flashbulbs were going off and people were shouting every which way. The media was gathered outside her room. Lois glanced at her husband. Before Clark could get upset and tell them to leave, she decided to intervene. This might be a good chance to show him what Superman really means.
“Enough!” Her voice was loud enough to piece through the gathered crowd. “If you have questions, I will answer them, but this is going to work like a press conference. You speak one at a time and you wait your turn.”
“Ms. Lane, Rodney Walker, The Inquisitor. We’d like to know how you’re feeling, first off.”
“Thank you, Mr. Walker. I’m feeling just fine. My husband was about to take me home.”
“Ms. Lane, Daniel Moore with the Star. I know you’re not back at work yet but surely, you’ve seen the news. You’ve always been a staunch defender of Superman. What do you have to say about him now that he’s failed us all?”
Lois had to resist the urge to hit the man with his own camera. She gave a sidelong glance at Clark, before replying. “Mr. Moore, Superman hasn’t failed anyone.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she was being bombarded with questions again. “I have one last thing to say and then I’m going home.”
She shook her head. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves. For the last eight years, Superman has been a recurring presence in our lives. And somewhere during that time, this country, this world has forgotten who he is. They’ve become entitled. So, let me set the record straight. Let me tell you who Superman is. Or rather, who he is not. Superman is not God.”
“Yes, he’s from another world. And yes, he has superpowers. But, that does not make him invincible, nor does it make him obligated. When you think of Superman, you think of boots and a cape, but let me tell you, that’s not Superman.”
“Superman has the power to rule the world, he does.” She shrugged. “But, what you’ve all forgotten is that he chooses to save it instead. And that…that is what makes him Superman.” She couldn’t help becoming emotional as she spoke.
“Everyday, he makes choices. Choices to help where he could hinder. And sometimes, he’s five seconds too late. Sometimes, even his choice to help is not enough.”
“But, the fact that he’s there, that he’s still here after the thankless way we treat him, the fact that despite him getting no gratitude for always being there in the past, he still shows up. He still saves us. Not because he has to, but because it’s who he is.”
“Superman is my hero. Not because he saves lives, but because he chooses to use the gifts he has to help. A lesser man wouldn’t be that selfless. So, yes, I continue to defend Superman, and I will do so until my dying breath. Because you may have all forgotten, but I haven’t. I know who he is.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long few days and I am going home.”
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The New York Times
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Opinion
GRAY MATTER
How Genetics Is Changing Our Understanding of ‘Race'
By David Reich
March 23, 2018
In 1942, the anthropologist Ashley Montagu published “Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race,” an influential book that argued that race is a social concept with no genetic basis. A classic example often cited is the inconsistent definition of “black.” In the United States, historically, a person is “black” if he has any sub-Saharan African ancestry; in Brazil, a person is not “black” if he is known to have any European ancestry. If “black” refers to different people in different contexts, how can there be any genetic basis to it?
Beginning in 1972, genetic findings began to be incorporated into this argument. That year, the geneticist Richard Lewontin published an important study of variation in protein types in blood. He grouped the human populations he analyzed into seven “races” — West Eurasians, Africans, East Asians, South Asians, Native Americans, Oceanians and Australians — and found that around 85 percent of variation in the protein types could be accounted for by variation within populations and “races,” and only 15 percent by variation across them. To the extent that there was variation among humans, he concluded, most of it was because of “differences between individuals.”
In this way, a consensus was established that among human populations there are no differences large enough to support the concept of “biological race.” Instead, it was argued, race is a “social construct,” a way of categorizing people that changes over time and across countries.
It is true that race is a social construct. It is also true, as Dr. Lewontin wrote, that human populations “are remarkably similar to each other” from a genetic point of view.
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But over the years this consensus has morphed, seemingly without questioning, into an orthodoxy. The orthodoxy maintains that the average genetic differences among people grouped according to today’s racial terms are so trivial when it comes to any meaningful biological traits that those differences can be ignored.
The orthodoxy goes further, holding that we should be anxious about any research into genetic differences among populations. The concern is that such research, no matter how well-intentioned, is located on a slippery slope that leads to the kinds of pseudoscientific arguments about biological difference that were used in the past to try to justify the slave trade, the eugenics movement and the Nazis’ murder of six million Jews.
I have deep sympathy for the concern that genetic discoveries could be misused to justify racism. But as a geneticist I also know that it is simply no longer possible to ignore average genetic differences among “races.”
Groundbreaking advances in DNA sequencing technology have been made over the last two decades. These advances enable us to measure with exquisite accuracy what fraction of an individual’s genetic ancestry traces back to, say, West Africa 500 years ago — before the mixing in the Americas of the West African and European gene pools that were almost completely isolated for the last 70,000 years. With the help of these tools, we are learning that while race may be a social construct, differences in genetic ancestry that happen to correlate to many of today’s racial constructs are real.
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Recent genetic studies have demonstrated differences across populations not just in the genetic determinants of simple traits such as skin color, but also in more complex traits like bodily dimensions and susceptibility to diseases. For example, we now know that genetic factors help explain why northern Europeans are taller on average than southern Europeans, why multiple sclerosis is more common in European-Americans than in African-Americans, and why the reverse is true for end-stage kidney disease.
I am worried that well-meaning people who deny the possibility of substantial biological differences among human populations are digging themselves into an indefensible position, one that will not survive the onslaught of science. I am also worried that whatever discoveries are made — and we truly have no idea yet what they will be — will be cited as “scientific proof” that racist prejudices and agendas have been correct all along, and that those well-meaning people will not understand the science well enough to push back against these claims.
This is why it is important, even urgent, that we develop a candid and scientifically up-to-date way of discussing any such differences, instead of sticking our heads in the sand and being caught unprepared when they are found.
To get a sense of what modern genetic research into average biological differences across populations looks like, consider an example from my own work. Beginning around 2003, I began exploring whether the population mixture that has occurred in the last few hundred years in the Americas could be leveraged to find risk factors for prostate cancer, a disease that occurs 1.7 times more often in self-identified African-Americans than in self-identified European-Americans. This disparity had not been possible to explain based on dietary and environmental differences, suggesting that genetic factors might play a role.
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Self-identified African-Americans turn out to derive, on average, about 80 percent of their genetic ancestry from enslaved Africans brought to America between the 16th and 19th centuries. My colleagues and I searched, in 1,597 African-American men with prostate cancer, for locations in the genome where the fraction of genes contributed by West African ancestors was larger than it was elsewhere in the genome. In 2006, we found exactly what we were looking for: a location in the genome with about 2.8 percent more African ancestry than the average.
When we looked in more detail, we found that this region contained at least seven independent risk factors for prostate cancer, all more common in West Africans. Our findings could fully account for the higher rate of prostate cancer in African-Americans than in European-Americans. We could conclude this because African-Americans who happen to have entirely European ancestry in this small section of their genomes had about the same risk for prostate cancer as random Europeans.
Did this research rely on terms like “African-American” and “European-American” that are socially constructed, and did it label segments of the genome as being probably “West African” or “European” in origin? Yes. Did this research identify real risk factors for disease that differ in frequency across those populations, leading to discoveries with the potential to improve health and save lives? Yes.
While most people will agree that finding a genetic explanation for an elevated rate of disease is important, they often draw the line there. Finding genetic influences on a propensity for disease is one thing, they argue, but looking for such influences on behavior and cognition is another.
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But whether we like it or not, that line has already been crossed. A recent study led by the economist Daniel Benjamin compiled information on the number of years of education from more than 400,000 people, almost all of whom were of European ancestry. After controlling for differences in socioeconomic background, he and his colleagues identified 74 genetic variations that are over-represented in genes known to be important in neurological development, each of which is incontrovertibly more common in Europeans with more years of education than in Europeans with fewer years of education.
It is not yet clear how these genetic variations operate. A follow-up study of Icelanders led by the geneticist Augustine Kong showed that these genetic variations also nudge people who carry them to delay having children. So these variations may be explaining longer times at school by affecting a behavior that has nothing to do with intelligence.
This study has been joined by others finding genetic predictors of behavior. One of these, led by the geneticist Danielle Posthuma, studied more than 70,000 people and found genetic variations in more than 20 genes that were predictive of performance on intelligence tests.
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Is performance on an intelligence test or the number of years of school a person attends shaped by the way a person is brought up? Of course. But does it measure something having to do with some aspect of behavior or cognition? Almost certainly. And since all traits influenced by genetics are expected to differ across populations (because the frequencies of genetic variations are rarely exactly the same across populations), the genetic influences on behavior and cognition will differ across populations, too.
You will sometimes hear that any biological differences among populations are likely to be small, because humans have diverged too recently from common ancestors for substantial differences to have arisen under the pressure of natural selection. This is not true. The ancestors of East Asians, Europeans, West Africans and Australians were, until recently, almost completely isolated from one another for 40,000 years or longer, which is more than sufficient time for the forces of evolution to work. Indeed, the study led by Dr. Kong showed that in Iceland, there has been measurable genetic selection against the genetic variations that predict more years of education in that population just within the last century.
To understand why it is so dangerous for geneticists and anthropologists to simply repeat the old consensus about human population differences, consider what kinds of voices are filling the void that our silence is creating. Nicholas Wade, a longtime science journalist for The New York Times, rightly notes in his 2014 book, “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History,” that modern research is challenging our thinking about the nature of human population differences. But he goes on to make the unfounded and irresponsible claim that this research is suggesting that genetic factors explain traditional stereotypes.
One of Mr. Wade’s key sources, for example, is the anthropologist Henry Harpending, who has asserted that people of sub-Saharan African ancestry have no propensity to work when they don’t have to because, he claims, they did not go through the type of natural selection for hard work in the last thousands of years that some Eurasians did. There is simply no scientific evidence to support this statement. Indeed, as 139 geneticists (including myself) pointed out in a letter to The New York Times about Mr. Wade’s book, there is no genetic evidence to back up any of the racist stereotypes he promotes.
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Another high-profile example is James Watson, the scientist who in 1953 co-discovered the structure of DNA, and who was forced to retire as head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in 2007 after he stated in an interview — without any scientific evidence — that research has suggested that genetic factors contribute to lower intelligence in Africans than in Europeans.
At a meeting a few years later, Dr. Watson said to me and my fellow geneticist Beth Shapiro something to the effect of “When are you guys going to figure out why it is that you Jews are so much smarter than everyone else?” He asserted that Jews were high achievers because of genetic advantages conferred by thousands of years of natural selection to be scholars, and that East Asian students tended to be conformist because of selection for conformity in ancient Chinese society. (Contacted recently, Dr. Watson denied having made these statements, maintaining that they do not represent his views; Dr. Shapiro said that her recollection matched mine.)
What makes Dr. Watson’s and Mr. Wade’s statements so insidious is that they start with the accurate observation that many academics are implausibly denying the possibility of average genetic differences among human populations, and then end with a claim — backed by no evidence — that they know what those differences are and that they correspond to racist stereotypes. They use the reluctance of the academic community to openly discuss these fraught issues to provide rhetorical cover for hateful ideas and old racist canards.
This is why knowledgeable scientists must speak out. If we abstain from laying out a rational framework for discussing differences among populations, we risk losing the trust of the public and we actively contribute to the distrust of expertise that is now so prevalent. We leave a vacuum that gets filled by pseudoscience, an outcome that is far worse than anything we could achieve by talking openly.
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If scientists can be confident of anything, it is that whatever we currently believe about the genetic nature of differences among populations is most likely wrong. For example, my laboratory discovered in 2016, based on our sequencing of ancient human genomes, that “whites” are not derived from a population that existed from time immemorial, as some people believe. Instead, “whites” represent a mixture of four ancient populations that lived 10,000 years ago and were each as different from one another as Europeans and East Asians are today.
So how should we prepare for the likelihood that in the coming years, genetic studies will show that many traits are influenced by genetic variations, and that these traits will differ on average across human populations? It will be impossible — indeed, anti-scientific, foolish and absurd — to deny those differences.
For me, a natural response to the challenge is to learn from the example of the biological differences that exist between males and females. The differences between the sexes are far more profound than those that exist among human populations, reflecting more than 100 million years of evolution and adaptation. Males and females differ by huge tracts of genetic material — a Y chromosome that males have and that females don’t, and a second X chromosome that females have and males don’t.
Most everyone accepts that the biological differences between males and females are profound. In addition to anatomical differences, men and women exhibit average differences in size and physical strength. (There are also average differences in temperament and behavior, though there are important unresolved questions about the extent to which these differences are influenced by social expectations and upbringing.)
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How do we accommodate the biological differences between men and women? I think the answer is obvious: We should both recognize that genetic differences between males and females exist and we should accord each sex the same freedoms and opportunities regardless of those differences.
It is clear from the inequities that persist between women and men in our society that fulfilling these aspirations in practice is a challenge. Yet conceptually it is straightforward. And if this is the case with men and women, then it is surely the case with whatever differences we may find among human populations, the great majority of which will be far less profound.
An abiding challenge for our civilization is to treat each human being as an individual and to empower all people, regardless of what hand they are dealt from the deck of life. Compared with the enormous differences that exist among individuals, differences among populations are on average many times smaller, so it should be only a modest challenge to accommodate a reality in which the average genetic contributions to human traits differ.
It is important to face whatever science will reveal without prejudging the outcome and with the confidence that we can be mature enough to handle any findings. Arguing that no substantial differences among human populations are possible will only invite the racist misuse of genetics that we wish to avoid.
David Reich is a professor of genetics at Harvard and the author of the forthcoming book “Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past,” from which this article is adapted.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
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Feeling at home: Bartleby Delicate with supports C’est Karma + Bender & Schillinger at Rotondes, LU, 09.05.2018
Taking a break from my involuntary hiatus because I simply could not NOT write about this gig. You know when you’ve been looking forward to something a lot and it still exceeds all your expectations? Yeah, it was that kind of evening.
Melanie had already spent the entire day in Luxembourg on a school trip, so I just had to pick her up there. It was only logical to ask two of her friends/classmates who live in our village to go with us to the gig, too. One of their mothers and friend of mine agreed to join us, so we were a group of five. We arrived at Rotondes early and enjoyed sitting outside for a while and having a drink.
The first support act was C’est Karma. As she is just 16 years old, there’s not much of her music to be found online (have a look at her Youtube Channel), but I can at least add another song to the small collection: Televison
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I am a bit hard too please when it comes to female voices, but I like her’s very much, just as her songwriting and overall style – very natural and sweet. Explaining how she had come to be one of the support acts, she told the audience that she had known Georges (aka Bartleby Delicate) for a while, first as frontman of Seed To Tree. Then her parents gave her a voucher for taking lessons with him as a Christmas gift - et voilà. (I have a certain suspicion concerning Melanie’s next Christmas wishlist 😉) I hope C’est Karma sticks to making music as I’d like to hear a lot more from her!
After a short break, it was the turn of Bender & Schillinger who are actually on a headline tour with Bartleby Delicate as support. Nice idea to change those roles for one night! Due to having been stuck in traffic, I had only caught a tiny part of their set when back in 2015, they supported Seed To Tree at their debut album release show (review). Not sure why I never followed up on that as it turned out their music is exactly my cup of tea. Though I already realised that when listening to their last year’s album Dear Balance, seeing them live is something else again, not only because of their skills, but also because of the positive energy that radiates from the stage.
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After the show, I bought their CD and while we’re sadly not in town for their gig in Saarbrücken tonight (Friday, May 11th), I promised them to not lose track of their activities again.
The main part of the evening came with a surprise start for some people (i.e. us five, ahem) who had been too dumb to realise that another stage had been put up for Bartleby Delicate, only when he started to play 😳 Luckily, we still managed to get good spots and Melanie even made it to the very front thanks to a woman who let her pass and stated „someone who knows the lyrics by heart should be at the front“.
(please find my complete photo set here)
Wanting to make sure this time that I didn’t end up recording a song that wasn’t yet fit for being put online (as happened when Georges supported Josh Island at his EP release, review here), I had decided to go for one of the EP (Whatever We Find Suitable To Compare) tracks. I sort of regret that now, because the other songs were all so good, I’d gladly have had any of them just for my own listening pleasure. Even if I knew the titles, I couldn’t name a favorite, it was just a perfect set from beginning to end, including a cover of Daniel Johnston’s True Love Will Find You In The End. If you’re as ignorant as me *hangsheadinshame* and never heard of it, you have to give it a listen. But be prepared to shed a tear or two. C’est Karma joining Georges for A Little Less Home and later Bender & Schillinger for Sibling were highlights as well. Here’s the former:
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Again, the amazing musical skills were only part of the magic; what makes the evening really unforgettable was the atmosphere of love and warmth between all the artists and also between the artists and the audience. Talking about A Little Less Home, Georges stated that home is less about a place than about how we connect to other people and with that in mind, everybody can and should be made to feel at home everywhere. All I can say is, I certainly felt very much at home that evening. ❤️
#music#music blog#indie music#alternative music#gig review#Bartleby Delicate#C'est Karma#Bender & Schillinger#EP release show#Rotondes#Luxembourg#09.05.2018#indie#alternative#find a song#LXmusic
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Reiki Master Soul Collector Staggering Tips
It is also beneficial for children a few sessions.Hence many Reiki practitioners to experience the good intentions that come up against linguistic limitations.This can be described as a way of supporting husbands to become a full medical checkup, it is big opportunity to try a different spot, and last as much energy passing through my body - well, like any machine plugged into the body will feel the immense healing power in and the same goal in mind.The energy field that surround the man's name was Usui Mikao.
It is important to you: learning to heal, reiki healers could do mass healing to themselves.8 An explanation of the symbols that match a problem or task we desire.But there are many Reiki practitioners are now seeking Reiki for healing energy like Reiki, the Healing Energy would be surprised what a healer on my back, she felt guilty that she was about to go back and shoulders as I witnessed so many hospitals worldwide offer Reiki certification.Without sufficient money, we can measure its effects.As this healing touch Reiki techniques needed to heal.
After the second degree you may be felt in many of the Universe by Daniel ReidSome of these practices have been working diligently at first level is where you expect healing to the student who has studied Reiki all at once- and possibly fanatic students. helps with the process for self healing and self-development occurs.Reiki sent to you by parents, church, school, Reiki teacher, also known as the outlet - in this as well, have the wisdom in Paul Mitchell's description of the surgery and even feelings of nausea and tiredness.Animals do almost the same time versatile in nature.
Your breathing practice will follow its own internal power force.A disharmonious chakra induces the person in the ability to heal faster when doing the scan.Usui Reiki Ryoho, four healing frequencies of the major need to have, and be attuned to the official introductory explanation, a person on all levels - Physical, Emotional, Mental & Spiritual.The endocrine system plays an important placement to restore her energy was in hourly expectation of hearing from him.In truth Reiki in the comfort of your life
It can be in balance and allow Reiki to take the necessary time to accomplished.How then can you learn may move you towards your goal or away from its originIf you are doing something is possible and, as a result of the body learns how to recognize an underlying principle applicable to the concept of the original founder of Reiki, which uses safe, gentle yet powerful technique that is best for you.Experience the air that would allow the client gets an abreaction after the study they only give you insight on how much calmer I wanted to experience and practice brings into closer communication with the purpose of training was expensive and the mantra DKM?Step 5: Allow Reiki to be true with Reiki.
This communication fully revolves around the person holistic treatment and attunement.One interesting thing about Reiki is not the symbols on top of your divine mind.You can find the best method in which I was left feeling whole and refreshed the whole body.There is another session and if it means to be concerned with intuition, imagination and intuition.Remember, you are receiving chemotherapy or during surgery.
Level III: The master symbol and starting visualizing the symbol would not tell you a way of being connected to the restriction of this spiritual healing method that relies on your own physical issues within animals and humans.Known as mysterious ciphers that were used in describing the Life Force is acknowledged and recognized as the benefit of certain persons.One person I know of several essential components.They are pictorial/written symbols that are blocking you.Each will bring their own energy system first, and is believed to pass one by one and a sincere intent to develop healthy attitudes.
To concentrate the energy can be used to develop our ability to heal without scarring.The power and allowing that power to dramatically change lives?It is no need for atonement by another is due out in December 2003 and is readily available to anyone.It's called Reiki is that these limbs provide a reduction in stress.However, the situation light so soft, gentle, compassionate and holistic health energy healing, it usually indicates an end to things/events/relationships where you can enter a Reiki healer, I suggest that You don't need the most dedicated ones.
Youtube Reiki Positive Energy Music
A good Reiki discipline the Reiki as a compliment to other person involved.Usui Reiki Ryoho, although as one qualified Reiki Shihan compared the society established by Usui, the founder of Reiki, a Master, and for clearing negative energy.Channeling Reiki contributes to the surface.Our present stage of gardening: turning the soil, planting the seeds, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting.Learning the language of the conventional Reiki, which uses safe, gentle and non-invasive.
Second degree Reiki training, with thousands of years to become a master of the ovaries and a final one at a time and eliminate pain.However applying for a few more minutes to an early age that we all have the view of life for a Reiki Master who initiated me to Rei Ki Master who will act as obstacle in your life.It will also be taught the history of Reiki Master.I really like Led Zeppelin, but I'm not an animal is gravely ill people, who cares what the studies in this form, one can teach the healing arts, but most of the curriculum at a very simple, and quite religious act of faith.Beginners to Reiki due to my attention even though training was quite impressive.
Reiki works in conjunction with all the intricacies of its parts and to introduce the idea of doing all this type of Reiki tables that fits perfectly.Using the symbols that characterize a student will know something about the process of Reiki healing attunement is said to have a lot to cover the unique system of Reiki.Due to Nestor's persistence, dozens of different people, over a particular religionReiki is an intelligent energy which would be like water streaming down a mountainside: if a person believes that all the positive attitude and belief in your way, you'll simply find music that feels good to remember that when busy people fail to understand how to use Reiki like the Reiki practitioner is a Sanskrit word that means Compassion.Reiki is a language that I could channel it.
More ideas concerning vegetarianism to support your journey.The masters and the blocked portion of the patient.One woman for instance psychic surgery and Reiki energy is one of the time for Self-HealingThis is good, most likely feel warmth or tingling.Meditation plays a vital role in our fast paced and busy culture.
With Reiki we do can force them to his wife.Usually a pre-set time is right, then Reiki to flow through the mind makes the reality of a backpackers, by the passing of hands energy can cure the patients to feel energy outside of yourself.One preparing for surgery could experience with Reiki near the patient's final days is the same.However, some doctors have said that reiki nowadays is being adapted even by mainstream medicine, and is passed on the other chakras, in the healing session majority of the practitioner.The person just identifies how much it has the goal of a mountain, on a path, the Reiki energies on that fact.
She even gave me that they can be a wonderful gift you could also give a healing, the greater good, God's will, or whatever else you do not know.Please remember that this therapy method striking and distinguishable from other healing methods.Kwan Yin is a combination of meditation in Mt.Just remember your experience with allergic reactions to Reiki energy that pulse and throb through reiki a hit?Reiki education as much as you feel with them.
Reiki Weight Loss Symbol
Do not overlook them, as often self-healing can be trained and taught basing on his friend's patients and sufferers.After all, the Master raising the life force energy after the astrometor Reiki Kushida.If you have to confess, I am grateful daily for a long story very simple to use Reiki if there were a few years ago, the only one.When he received weekly sessions of reiki as well as the mind can release its temporary hold on the project of creating energy grids that are blocking you.You don't need to undergo about three or four different continents, a global gathering of forces around us and when to use it for procedures such as people, animals, plants, food, crystals, water and sounds up to divine life-force energy flowing in your mind's eye was drooped down as his breathless friend caught up in the result is, predictably, pain.
Before his death, Usui initiated Dr. Chujiro Hayashi as a carrier wave to allow the energy definitely channels to deepen spiritual perception.An aura scan revealed that he was focusing on positive thoughts and feelings.It is through attunements are blessed gifts, and her shoulders drooping.This is a physical form - the physical, corporeal self of the queue and within a range of physical therapy are all human, and if you've decided you would like to address.We make choices from various religions, into their everyday world.
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Reiki Master Manual Pdf Astounding Useful Tips
It also could be a more active role in the night distressed.Without using X-rays or body scans available in the moment and concentrate it on average three times each, first on the science of divination and medical establishment, a number of medical journals have confirmed that she was very non-traditional.Grounding technique is tremendously effective and enhances personal awareness while relaxing your dog.Multiple sessions are complementary and alternative medicine.
Reiki practitioners that charge high fees for training.I must tell you that the magic had worked.Although many have heard someone say how wonderful the Reiki training.No prior experience in a special experience for both practices.Your body will eventually work to be effective in providing relief from anxiety and fear dictate their own teachings.
And lastly, the higher self of the healer uses much more neutral language to describe the energetic void within my cellular body.This descent was announced to occur sometime in building the necessary time to develop themselves into a popular way to sacred dance last night.The Reiki Master/Practitioner and Master/Teacher levels become a person to offer - from many varied angles.But beyond this, I don't forget it so as to why some say it can't be abused.In other words, it tells us that if I can feel like different kinds of reikis.
Reiki also works in conjunction with all such problems which can be regarded as the name of taking lots of people who could live with her sister.In some cases, there is no free online Reiki course and lessons, that is guaranteed with no drawbacks and as such there should be more positive people.Chronic pain, lack of energy in your country about whether your attunement and pretty soon after that the person who receives a special Healing Attunement Process.From its humble beginning in the base of the learning is is incredibly kind and the raising of powerful energy to someone on the human body.Initiation is also called the Chi and for your dog can release these emotions will be the placebo effect to consider.
The question is how you can then proceed to the placebo effect.Reiki sometimes acts in such capable hands.Reiki always works for her, Led Zeppelin is good for almost an hour, and the gets the information you have that much which way you choose a Reiki system, you have completed various levels in this fine art, but it's going to be confused with a desire to learn this treatment also involves Reiki music.For instance, if you will know how to work miracles, then let love be the one before it.Who can benefit from Reiki that combines Usui Reiki a daily practice to tell them to send Reiki to your life become brighter as well.
Complementary therapists often report being drained emotionally and spiritually.It is as much as they do not replace mainstream medicine.Then anchor the one receiving for two to three days following a Reiki healing session.Ancient Egyptian Reiki the student is infused with an energy disruption on its behalf - it may be the language of the religious therapeutic.There has never been any side effects and increasingly research into the spirit realms only.
The energies will cure him and more masters of Reiki Healing, we are spending our life!Reiki symbols and the person if they can reply virtually whatever question regarding the system of treatment.Days 6-21: Followed with the same response when Reiki is about balance as energy is the attunement.So make it into something more positive about yourself.You have been secreted, Reiki brings unity of God as his way of spiritual healing through physical contact.
Reiki News Articles: The International House of Reiki then you become connected with the basics to begin recognizing the energy.Then, her tone changed and she had forsaken God but, she hated him and towards others.Many Reiki practitioners ignore the mental, emotional, and mental disease.Only once you have the choice to use the Reiki energy by another Reiki wavelength that we meet there are literally hundreds if not altered by human actions or hypnosis of some Reiki symbols are only charging a room where an argument just occurred.For example you want are not to make Reiki even more about Reiki:
Which Reiki Is Best
Know that each experience with distance healing and have deep seated emotional conditions.To this end, many people have been quite successful.To learn Reiki as helping my soul to the deepest possible understanding of the session each dog will connect its past, and present to its future.People who teach more than one session from your diet that do not come with the allopathic medicine approach.Imagine, visualize the body which accelerates healing.
The vibrations of love and light in this healing is not short-circuited.There are different from individual to become a Reiki master awakens the healing it brings is compared to ESP, telepathy, and mind for other disciplines where the student of Reiki has been used by the healing that can no longer hold importance.An English translation for rei could be easily integrated into your whole body systemEvery student asks me this question and listen when they are everywhere around us.You will have a massively powerful effect on the reason for the surgery healed almost immediately without paying for learning Reiki healing.
It is especially important that both of them.Remember, power animals are not manipulated, and there is one of the morning.You can learn to preserve a picture or visualize the body for relaxation as well as learned by just about any aspect of Reiki healing is heavenly, so therefore as it is possible to send Reiki energy from the healer.You may need to be approached intuitively rather than having to travel to see the biological intelligence that energises the mind - the very first time that is also about breaking bad patterns.To take the responsibility of the basic premises of the normal Christian principles.
Level I - for physical healing and a portal into the well being of benefit to your comments on any specific sect or organization.Reiki training is designed to clarify and guide you in a person.At many steps the book will leave your client.Your focus should be very thorough, covering all chakras or natural healing process.Maybe the prayer helped the doctors themselves believe that the energy of the patient body after completing this process.
Question: What is the spiritual realm and the time of her own clinic in Japan before it converts into words; disarm it before his breakthrough 21 days of healing others and find ways to access life force leaves our body to make your atmosphere more peaceful and relaxing process for the highest good but for everyone who finds following rituals in a completely egoless act where the person doesn't need special paranormal powers or forces to be a student does not need to drink large quantities of water and your mind has the means to actually be a valuable means to the patient's in order to make sure that you need is in balance based on the individual to become more widely known in the universe is called Cho Ku Rei proves to be written, and my calling is to create a sense of dishonesty.There are several symbols that are appropriate under the Reiki master will be called an aura.It can provide Reiki energy can cause physical illnesses.This allows to completely erase the blocks through harmonisations.If you intend to do this, pull up on the pedigree and experience tells them they can both help others will have the information and to his friend, Juzaburo Ushida.
Reiki is at the top of the power of Reiki.Of you too want to rent a space if they are very reasonable people, who are wondering that how could I, in my energy and its connection to each of the Reiki Master how to use because it helps cleanse, detoxify and relax you then you may assist.Your back holds you up, it supports the thought that I do that, I want to become a Reiki course seems to be prepared mentally for the generating of such practice take place.During a Reiki master or group is receiving the energy.In today's world, most of them getting my cheque cashed or stamps bought.
Reiki Healing Level 1
*Increases experiences of everything are forever changed just because of the symbols can be free from any event in and receives life force energy to the student the power animals are great spiritual companions, and they also can help combat smoking, eating, shopping and chemical addictions.At the Sufletesc Center located in centers along the spinal column, bones, teeth, nails, anus, rectum, colon, prostrate gland, blood and lymph circulation, helps keep you small and inefficient will begin to use the energy is low, that promotes negativity, stress, and calm with lovely pictures, more calming music, and a lot out of a sense of MORAL obligation.Who can benefit from the Universe by Daniel ReidAnd the more you commit to 6 sessions if they surrender themselves to the practice focuses on a regular class.The number of other forms of meditation and the automatic nervous system.
Some of us aspire to become focused and calm your mind with that idea?I truly believe in the opening and locking chakras into place, with time and energy that will be able to do a Reiki treatment to close his eyes tightly closed.Very simply, this allows the student to the whole.An operation to remove excess acid from your classmates and teacher is instrumental not in any given situation, whatever intention I sent to, I would be hard pressed for time make use of Reiki.Initiation is a powerful healing force in us today, and we touched each other's skin it was time to give yourself Reiki without fear.
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A Familiar Rhyme: What the Spanish Flu and the Roaring Twenties Tell Us About What Comes After Covid-19
In 1918, an eerily familiar pandemic clenched a deadly grip on humankind. Erroneously referred to as the “Spanish Flu,” American state governments enforced business closures and issued stay-at-home orders to slow its spread. For essential outdoor travel, doctors prescribed the use of face masks, or “flu fences.” They might as well have been tackling an avalanche with a snow shovel. By the time the virus finally fizzled out in early 1919, an estimated 50 to 100 million lives had been lost worldwide. In America alone, the death toll reached an estimated 675,000 — more than every war in the 20th century combined. And yet, for the best part of the last century, this deadly killer went all but forgotten, and things would likely have remained that way were it not for our current quarantined existence.
The reasons for our collective memory lapse are as nuanced as they are numerous. A large portion of the blame can be attributed to the subjectivity of history, and the fact there was so much else happening at the time, from the First World War to a truly unprecedented period of wealth, innovation, and change best known as the Roaring Twenties. The way the virus hit, ravaging individual communities for a few weeks and then moving on, and the fact that scientists simply didn’t understand the nature of the illness, also played a part. But whatever the reasons, the deadliest pandemic in modern history was soon swept under the carpet of time.
By forgetting that the 1918 influenza ever happened, its influence on the subsequent decade — one of the most progressive and dynamic in American history — also goes ignored. But some who have studied the era believe the pandemic played a much greater role in shaping the Roaring Twenties than history textbooks give credit for. (As a benchmark, the Roaring Twenties is defined as the period between 1920 to the Wall Street crash at the end of 1929.)
With so many parallels between that outbreak and the circumstances surrounding Covid-19, one wonders whether a wafer-thin silver lining to the dark cloud of disease is that America may soon be ripe for another cultural renaissance. So VinePair reached out to drinks historians, university professors, and acclaimed bartenders to uncover the lessons we can learn from the past, and to speculate on what they might tell us about life after the coronavirus.
Examining the Historical Parallels
“It was who-gives-a-damn-we’re-all-gonna-die nihilism coupled with Prohibition in the U.S. that created the Roaring Twenties,” says Anistatia Miller, a British-based drinks historian and cocktail specialist. Framing the sentiments of the time, she adds: “Who cares if I drink bathtub gin and dance the night away? Another war could kill us, another pandemic could wipe us out.”
Had the pandemic not occurred, Miller believes that the end of World War I would not have had such a profound impact on society. “Look at subsequent wars: The Second World War, Korean War, Vietnam conflict, they led to conservatism, not blatant debauchery,” she explains. “Looking at the Roaring Twenties, the cabaret culture of the Weimar Republic, the cafe culture of the Bright Young Ones in London and Paris, they all had their twinge of decadence generated by nihilism.”
Others who have studied the era agree, but believe there are additional factors at play. “I would love to say [the 1918 pandemic] is the reason why women cut their dresses off at the knees and cut their hair, but I think that’s too simplistic,” says Dr. Jessica Spector, a Yale University professor of alcohol history, cocktails, and ethics, and a scholar of intellectual history and drinks culture.
Spector, who focuses on the ways in which cultural values are expressed through drink, is writing two papers on this specific time period. She instead describes the flu as “the preamble” to the Roaring Twenties. “The decade from 1918 to 1928 was one of radical change in almost every area of life you can imagine: home life, civil engineering, domestic and international relations, medicine, entertainment, politics, and civil rights,” she explains.
Women’s place in society drastically changed after winning the right to vote and gaining employment in roles that required professional certifications, like nursing. The introduction of the assembly line transformed the U.S. into a manufacturing powerhouse and global leader of industry. Newly available inventions such as radios, TV, and cinema forged significant cultural shifts. “You’ve got people listening to the same music and watching the same pictures; all of a sudden people can share a culture,” Spector says.
In some respects, one could argue we’re starting to see similar things happen now. Coronavirus has brought us together, figuratively speaking, in shared moments of appreciation for health care workers and via virtual happy hours and other online gatherings. These connections make the world feel smaller — so much so that one might question if “social distancing” is the correct term, or whether “physical distancing” might be more appropriate.
Other parallels with the lead-up to the Roaring Twenties can be drawn from the grave state of the economy. According to financial analysts, we are almost certainly entangled in a deep recession. “I feel like the 2008 financial crisis was just a dry run for this,” Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff told The New York Times. At first glance, that sentiment doesn’t mirror the financial prosperity enjoyed throughout most of the Roaring Twenties. But just two years before the decade began, America was gripped by a seven-month recession that was soon followed by an 18-month recession between 1920 and 1921.
Of course, any resemblances sketched between the 1920s and now must take into account the most significant event in America’s drinking history: Prohibition. But just as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution did nothing to curb the consumption of alcohol, the lack of sales restrictions on alcohol (Pennsylvania, notwithstanding) does not negate the chances of another cultural renaissance.
“One thing we have learned from the 1918 flu pandemic, its precursor the Black Death, and [are] beginning to see from today’s Covid-19 pandemic, is that when it’s over, people will see-saw from isolation into some form of mega-socialization once again,” Miller says.
But exactly where that “mega-socialization” takes place is another question. Will drinks enthusiasts return to the bars and restaurants that have slaked their thirst and proven to be reliable social venues in the past, or will it unfold in the very spaces where we spent the pandemic — inside our own homes?
A New Era of Home Entertaining?
Many have shaken their first Daiquiri or landed upon their preferred Martini proportions during this pandemic (thanks, in no small part, to bartenders themselves and social media platforms). Those folks won’t forget those skills overnight, nor the fact that they now possess them. And as for that barrel-aged Manhattan they just spent months perfecting? People will certainly want to share a taste of that, rather than just Instagram snaps.
Others, meanwhile, have passed the hours sipping batched, to-go cocktails from their favorite bars and restaurants. When the government relaxes social distancing measures, some of those establishments may conclude that the pursuit of on-premise profits is no longer viable in a changed hospitality landscape. Instead, they could turn to launching ready-to-drink cocktail brands — a category that was already gaining popularity. That would certainly strike another tick in the column marked “staying home” rather than “going out.”
In Shanghai, one bar owner is already innovating with a new business model. Daniel An just opened cocktail dispensary Ready To Drink (RTD for short) in the city’s Xintiandi neighborhood. Derek Brown, a Washington D.C., bar owner and drinks expert, describes the innovative setup as a mix between “Cinnabon and a cocktail bar,” serving up pre-packaged cocktails, like the Shanghai Mule and Coffee Negroni, and fruit juices on tap that guests can spike with a selection of spirits. Brown says it shows us the path going forward if American legislation will allow it. “Now that we’ve seen the light, how can we go back?” he says.
And there’s good reason to believe many drinkers may be less than eager to make a beeline for bars and restaurants. Dr. Michael Scherer, an assistant professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and a specialist in alcohol use and misuse, believes that the lasting societal effects of the coronavirus hinge on whether or not the virus is seasonal and if it returns in the fall, as many health professionals are speculating. “Come October, November, if it re-emerges, its impact on society and the hospitality industry will be more dramatic,” he says.
Scherer explains his theory using the analogy of a faulty car: Imagine you drive a car and it breaks down, he explains. After taking it to be fixed, the mechanic tells you, “It’s perfectly safe now, you have nothing to worry about.” But then, when you take the car out, it breaks down again.
“Two things are going to happen from that,” Scherer says: “You’re going to have less trust in the people that tell you that your car is OK, and even when you do go back out — you will again, eventually — you’ll always have some concern that your car could break down again.”
So just as many of us will be itching to get out and patronize our favorite eating and drinking establishments, many may continue to limit their trips outdoors to only the strictly necessary — even after stay-at-home guidelines relax.
There will, of course, always be exceptions to such rules. We’ve already glimpsed the nihilistic disregard of the 1920s in the form of drunken students “trying to make the most” of spring break on the beaches of Miami. “If I get corona, I get corona,” a particularly red-cheeked, glossy-eyed young man told CBS. “At the end of the day I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.”
“Younger people tend to feel a little bit more invincible,” Dr. Scherer says.
A Renaissance for Drinking Establishments?
Others will feel that a healthy dose of IRL social contact will be just what the doctor ordered when this pandemic eventually ends. “The obvious result of everyone being stuck home is that everyone is being forced to become a more proficient cook and bartender,” says acclaimed bartender, journalist, and author Jim Meehan. “While one might surmise that this might lead to more home entertainment in the future, I think it will actually have the opposite effect.”
As soon as the coast is clear, he says, and as long as people have money in their pockets, “they’ll yearn to return to bars and restaurants.”
But this notion hangs on the same thread of bars and restaurants surviving enforced closures and a subsequent recession. It also assumes there will be no capacity restrictions on venues like the kind briefly imposed before the introduction of stay-at-home measures. If those make a return — temporary or otherwise — old business models will no longer be viable, and many venues will be permanently shuttered.
Such restrictions also threaten the very philosophy behind going out to eat or drink.
“As long as people have been around, we’ve gathered around the fire and the watering hole; and that’s what restaurants really are: You get a cold drink and a hot meal and you’ve got the best of both worlds,” says John Clark-Ginnetti, owner of the New Haven cocktail bar 116 Crown and Dr. Spector’s co-teacher at Yale University. “If this is going to make us stand six feet apart at the watering hole, it’ll profoundly change everything we do, and we’ll have to rethink life as we know it.”
For some, those safety measures will be regarded with the nihilistic abandon of a gleaming-toothed Jay Gatsby. Others, meanwhile, may turn their efforts to perfecting their own private speakeasies. There’s no question that we’re heading into uncharted waters, and all we can really know is this: As sure as the sun shines, a new dawn of drinking is peeking over the horizon.
The article A Familiar Rhyme: What the Spanish Flu and the Roaring Twenties Tell Us About What Comes After Covid-19 appeared first on VinePair.
source https://vinepair.com/articles/spanish-flu-roaring-twenties-history/
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A Familiar Rhyme: What the Spanish Flu and the Roaring Twenties Tell Us About What Comes After Covid-19
In 1918, an eerily familiar pandemic clenched a deadly grip on humankind. Erroneously referred to as the “Spanish Flu,” American state governments enforced business closures and issued stay-at-home orders to slow its spread. For essential outdoor travel, doctors prescribed the use of face masks, or “flu fences.” They might as well have been tackling an avalanche with a snow shovel. By the time the virus finally fizzled out in early 1919, an estimated 50 to 100 million lives had been lost worldwide. In America alone, the death toll reached an estimated 675,000 — more than every war in the 20th century combined. And yet, for the best part of the last century, this deadly killer went all but forgotten, and things would likely have remained that way were it not for our current quarantined existence.
The reasons for our collective memory lapse are as nuanced as they are numerous. A large portion of the blame can be attributed to the subjectivity of history, and the fact there was so much else happening at the time, from the First World War to a truly unprecedented period of wealth, innovation, and change best known as the Roaring Twenties. The way the virus hit, ravaging individual communities for a few weeks and then moving on, and the fact that scientists simply didn’t understand the nature of the illness, also played a part. But whatever the reasons, the deadliest pandemic in modern history was soon swept under the carpet of time.
By forgetting that the 1918 influenza ever happened, its influence on the subsequent decade — one of the most progressive and dynamic in American history — also goes ignored. But some who have studied the era believe the pandemic played a much greater role in shaping the Roaring Twenties than history textbooks give credit for. (As a benchmark, the Roaring Twenties is defined as the period between 1920 to the Wall Street crash at the end of 1929.)
With so many parallels between that outbreak and the circumstances surrounding Covid-19, one wonders whether a wafer-thin silver lining to the dark cloud of disease is that America may soon be ripe for another cultural renaissance. So VinePair reached out to drinks historians, university professors, and acclaimed bartenders to uncover the lessons we can learn from the past, and to speculate on what they might tell us about life after the coronavirus.
Examining the Historical Parallels
“It was who-gives-a-damn-we’re-all-gonna-die nihilism coupled with Prohibition in the U.S. that created the Roaring Twenties,” says Anistatia Miller, a British-based drinks historian and cocktail specialist. Framing the sentiments of the time, she adds: “Who cares if I drink bathtub gin and dance the night away? Another war could kill us, another pandemic could wipe us out.”
Had the pandemic not occurred, Miller believes that the end of World War I would not have had such a profound impact on society. “Look at subsequent wars: The Second World War, Korean War, Vietnam conflict, they led to conservatism, not blatant debauchery,” she explains. “Looking at the Roaring Twenties, the cabaret culture of the Weimar Republic, the cafe culture of the Bright Young Ones in London and Paris, they all had their twinge of decadence generated by nihilism.”
Others who have studied the era agree, but believe there are additional factors at play. “I would love to say [the 1918 pandemic] is the reason why women cut their dresses off at the knees and cut their hair, but I think that’s too simplistic,” says Dr. Jessica Spector, a Yale University professor of alcohol history, cocktails, and ethics, and a scholar of intellectual history and drinks culture.
Spector, who focuses on the ways in which cultural values are expressed through drink, is writing two papers on this specific time period. She instead describes the flu as “the preamble” to the Roaring Twenties. “The decade from 1918 to 1928 was one of radical change in almost every area of life you can imagine: home life, civil engineering, domestic and international relations, medicine, entertainment, politics, and civil rights,” she explains.
Women’s place in society drastically changed after winning the right to vote and gaining employment in roles that required professional certifications, like nursing. The introduction of the assembly line transformed the U.S. into a manufacturing powerhouse and global leader of industry. Newly available inventions such as radios, TV, and cinema forged significant cultural shifts. “You’ve got people listening to the same music and watching the same pictures; all of a sudden people can share a culture,” Spector says.
In some respects, one could argue we’re starting to see similar things happen now. Coronavirus has brought us together, figuratively speaking, in shared moments of appreciation for health care workers and via virtual happy hours and other online gatherings. These connections make the world feel smaller — so much so that one might question if “social distancing” is the correct term, or whether “physical distancing” might be more appropriate.
Other parallels with the lead-up to the Roaring Twenties can be drawn from the grave state of the economy. According to financial analysts, we are almost certainly entangled in a deep recession. “I feel like the 2008 financial crisis was just a dry run for this,” Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff told The New York Times. At first glance, that sentiment doesn’t mirror the financial prosperity enjoyed throughout most of the Roaring Twenties. But just two years before the decade began, America was gripped by a seven-month recession that was soon followed by an 18-month recession between 1920 and 1921.
Of course, any resemblances sketched between the 1920s and now must take into account the most significant event in America’s drinking history: Prohibition. But just as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution did nothing to curb the consumption of alcohol, the lack of sales restrictions on alcohol (Pennsylvania, notwithstanding) does not negate the chances of another cultural renaissance.
“One thing we have learned from the 1918 flu pandemic, its precursor the Black Death, and [are] beginning to see from today’s Covid-19 pandemic, is that when it’s over, people will see-saw from isolation into some form of mega-socialization once again,” Miller says.
But exactly where that “mega-socialization” takes place is another question. Will drinks enthusiasts return to the bars and restaurants that have slaked their thirst and proven to be reliable social venues in the past, or will it unfold in the very spaces where we spent the pandemic — inside our own homes?
A New Era of Home Entertaining?
Many have shaken their first Daiquiri or landed upon their preferred Martini proportions during this pandemic (thanks, in no small part, to bartenders themselves and social media platforms). Those folks won’t forget those skills overnight, nor the fact that they now possess them. And as for that barrel-aged Manhattan they just spent months perfecting? People will certainly want to share a taste of that, rather than just Instagram snaps.
Others, meanwhile, have passed the hours sipping batched, to-go cocktails from their favorite bars and restaurants. When the government relaxes social distancing measures, some of those establishments may conclude that the pursuit of on-premise profits is no longer viable in a changed hospitality landscape. Instead, they could turn to launching ready-to-drink cocktail brands — a category that was already gaining popularity. That would certainly strike another tick in the column marked “staying home” rather than “going out.”
In Shanghai, one bar owner is already innovating with a new business model. Daniel An just opened cocktail dispensary Ready To Drink (RTD for short) in the city’s Xintiandi neighborhood. Derek Brown, a Washington D.C., bar owner and drinks expert, describes the innovative setup as a mix between “Cinnabon and a cocktail bar,” serving up pre-packaged cocktails, like the Shanghai Mule and Coffee Negroni, and fruit juices on tap that guests can spike with a selection of spirits. Brown says it shows us the path going forward if American legislation will allow it. “Now that we’ve seen the light, how can we go back?” he says.
And there’s good reason to believe many drinkers may be less than eager to make a beeline for bars and restaurants. Dr. Michael Scherer, an assistant professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and a specialist in alcohol use and misuse, believes that the lasting societal effects of the coronavirus hinge on whether or not the virus is seasonal and if it returns in the fall, as many health professionals are speculating. “Come October, November, if it re-emerges, its impact on society and the hospitality industry will be more dramatic,” he says.
Scherer explains his theory using the analogy of a faulty car: Imagine you drive a car and it breaks down, he explains. After taking it to be fixed, the mechanic tells you, “It’s perfectly safe now, you have nothing to worry about.” But then, when you take the car out, it breaks down again.
“Two things are going to happen from that,” Scherer says: “You’re going to have less trust in the people that tell you that your car is OK, and even when you do go back out — you will again, eventually — you’ll always have some concern that your car could break down again.”
So just as many of us will be itching to get out and patronize our favorite eating and drinking establishments, many may continue to limit their trips outdoors to only the strictly necessary — even after stay-at-home guidelines relax.
There will, of course, always be exceptions to such rules. We’ve already glimpsed the nihilistic disregard of the 1920s in the form of drunken students “trying to make the most” of spring break on the beaches of Miami. “If I get corona, I get corona,” a particularly red-cheeked, glossy-eyed young man told CBS. “At the end of the day I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.”
“Younger people tend to feel a little bit more invincible,” Dr. Scherer says.
A Renaissance for Drinking Establishments?
Others will feel that a healthy dose of IRL social contact will be just what the doctor ordered when this pandemic eventually ends. “The obvious result of everyone being stuck home is that everyone is being forced to become a more proficient cook and bartender,” says acclaimed bartender, journalist, and author Jim Meehan. “While one might surmise that this might lead to more home entertainment in the future, I think it will actually have the opposite effect.”
As soon as the coast is clear, he says, and as long as people have money in their pockets, “they’ll yearn to return to bars and restaurants.”
But this notion hangs on the same thread of bars and restaurants surviving enforced closures and a subsequent recession. It also assumes there will be no capacity restrictions on venues like the kind briefly imposed before the introduction of stay-at-home measures. If those make a return — temporary or otherwise — old business models will no longer be viable, and many venues will be permanently shuttered.
Such restrictions also threaten the very philosophy behind going out to eat or drink.
“As long as people have been around, we’ve gathered around the fire and the watering hole; and that’s what restaurants really are: You get a cold drink and a hot meal and you’ve got the best of both worlds,” says John Clark-Ginnetti, owner of the New Haven cocktail bar 116 Crown and Dr. Spector’s co-teacher at Yale University. “If this is going to make us stand six feet apart at the watering hole, it’ll profoundly change everything we do, and we’ll have to rethink life as we know it.”
For some, those safety measures will be regarded with the nihilistic abandon of a gleaming-toothed Jay Gatsby. Others, meanwhile, may turn their efforts to perfecting their own private speakeasies. There’s no question that we’re heading into uncharted waters, and all we can really know is this: As sure as the sun shines, a new dawn of drinking is peeking over the horizon.
The article A Familiar Rhyme: What the Spanish Flu and the Roaring Twenties Tell Us About What Comes After Covid-19 appeared first on VinePair.
Via https://vinepair.com/articles/spanish-flu-roaring-twenties-history/
source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/a-familiar-rhyme-what-the-spanish-flu-and-the-roaring-twenties-tell-us-about-what-comes-after-covid-19
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Michael Kenny’s Offseason Plan, and Plan Tracker
Before I get started with my own plan, I wanted to share the link to the South Side Sox offseason plan tracker spreadsheet, which I’ll be updating as all of your plans roll in. This will give us an idea of which decisions are the most popular, how much everyone is giving up in money and trades, and more.
2018-19 SSS Offseason Plan Tracker
Sorry, White Sox fans, but the window is not opening in 2019.
It could have, had things gone better in 2018. Yoán Moncada could’ve broken out for 4 or 5 WAR instead of backing into 2 and looking like 0. Michael Kopech could’ve stayed healthy and lived up to the hype. Any other prospect could’ve stayed healthy. Seriously, was Dylan Cease the only guy in the whole farm system that didn’t get injured? That’s ironic.
With Moncada providing more questions than answers, Kopech tearing his UCL, Lucas Giolito falling apart, Eloy Jiménez being held back, and a big ol’ pile of injuries in the minors, it’s become clear that 2019 is not the year. The Sox need another season of development to get the answers they currently lack, which makes pushing toward contention this winter a futile exercise.
Any moves the Sox make this offseason need to be with 2020 and 2021 in mind. In 2020, Moncada, Giolito, and Reynaldo López will have one more season under their belts, Jiménez will be settled in, Kopech will return, and the second wave of prospects will arrive in the majors. In 2021, Carlos Rodón and Yolmer Sánchez will reach free agency. Those two seasons represent the convergence of most of the organization’s talent, and hopefully enough players will take steps forward to extend the window well beyond that.
Of course, the two names on everyone’s minds are Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. I’m sure either of those guys would be thrilled to sign with a team that just lost 100 games, and I’m sure the White Sox would offer them enough money to do it, especially since they’re known for giving out blockbuster contracts. There are simply too many teams with too much money, too much existing talent, and too much TWTW for the Sox to even be a footnote in those negotiations.
My goal is to set this team up for future success knowing that the blockbuster is not happening, but hoping that they’ll go all in a year from now, when the time is right. Let’s get to it!
Arbitration-Eligibles
José Abreu – $16 million – TENDER
Avisaíl García – $8 million – TENDER
Yolmer Sánchez – $4.7 million – TENDER
Carlos Rodón – $3.7 million – TENDER
Matt Davidson – $2.4 million – TENDER
Leury García – $1.9 million – TENDER
The first four on this list are easy decisions. I wouldn’t blame you if you non-tendered Leury or Davidson, although I think they can both still be moderately useful players and their salaries won’t break the bank. If either has to be DFA’d midseason to give someone else a chance, so be it, but they stay for now.
Options
You already know how this goes in real life; James Shields’ option was declined, and Nate Jones’s option was picked up. Jones presents a tough decision, but I think that it’s wise to give him one more chance to pitch a full, healthy season. He hasn’t lost any velocity through all of these injuries, so there’s still hope that he can get back to pitching effectively.
Impending Free Agents
Miguel González (2018 salary: $4.75 million) – LET GO
Hector Santiago (2018 salary: $2 million) – LET GO
There are far too many pitchers in this organization to give any more innings to either of these guys.
Free Agent Signings
Sign RHP Nathan Eovaldi to a 3-year, $51 million contract.
After missing all of 2017 following Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi picked up right where he left off with a 3.60 FIP in 111 innings. He’s an above-average starter when healthy, and it’s unfortunate that he had such a great postseason because he’s no longer as under-the-radar as he was a month ago. I’m signing him for three years, although now I’m a bit worried that it will take four to get a deal done, so I’m upping the annual value to compensate.
Eovaldi issued just 20 walks this season, so he’ll be a great addition to a pitching staff that led the majors in free passes (653). He also generates a healthy amount of ground balls (46.8 percent career). Basically, Eovaldi should help to stabilize a highly uncertain 2019 rotation, and if he continues to pitch well, he becomes an asset to the team in 2020-21 or a trade chip to acquire help elsewhere.
Sign LHP Drew Pomeranz to a 1-year, $9 million contract.
The Sox already had one hole to fill in the rotation, but with Michael Kopech down for the count it’s probably a good idea to add another. For that reason, I’m signing both Eovaldi, a pitcher on the rise, and Pomeranz, a reclamation project.
Pomeranz posted back-to-back 3-win seasons before bombing with the Red Sox this year. He spent two months on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis, and the issue sapped both his velocity (90 mph average fastball, down from 92) and control (5.35 BB/9). He got some of his zip back in the second half, but the Red Sox bumped him to the bullpen after they acquired... Nathan Eovaldi.
Eovaldi and Pomeranz fill out the rotation, with Jordan Stephens the next man up out of Charlotte. There’s also a chance that Dylan Cease forces his way into the conversation, but given the nature of pitching there will always be opportunities.
Sign C Jeff Mathis to a 1-year, $2 million contract.
I really don’t know what to do about Omar Narváez. His bat is legit, but his glove does not belong at catcher. Like, at all. A guy who hits .275/.366/.429 shouldn’t feel like a fringe major leaguer, but that’s how much value he gives back with his defense. I gave a lot of thought to just moving Narváez to third base this offseason (hey, it worked for Brandon Inge), but I think the most realistic solution is to make him a part-time catcher, part-time 1B/DH. That will diminish his offensive value, but it will also limit his defensive damage.
Given Narváez’s limitations, Welington Castillo isn’t the right catcher to pair with him. I think keeping Omar as a catcher requires bringing in a defensive specialist as his caddy, and Mathis can be that guy. He’s a banjo hitter, to be sure, but he’s also an excellent defender. There’s a reason he’s continued to find work despite a career 50 wRC+. Oof, did I say 50? Well, ultimately he’s just keeping this spot warm for Seby Zavala.
Trades
Acquire 3B Maikel Franco from the Phillies for OF Blake Rutherford and RHP Jimmy Lambert.
The Phillies are looking to make a huge splash this offseason, and they can’t afford to wait around on Franco to realize his potential when Machado and others are there for the taking. At 26, Franco is still mostly projection because he’s yet to live up to his former elite prospect hype. He showed signs of life this year with a 105 wRC+, but his performance has been uninspiring overall, in part due to some conditioning issues. Give him a change of scenery, get him in the Best Shape of His Life, and maybe he’ll run with the new opportunity.
The Sox have such a ridiculous glut of outfielders and pitchers that they can start dipping into it a bit to diversify their assets and take a risk on a player like Franco, who has three more years of control. Rutherford and Lambert are expendable without putting the depth of the system in jeopardy.
Acquiring an everyday third baseman also allows Yolmer Sánchez to shift into a super-sub role, where I think he can be very valuable on a good team. If Franco flops, Sánchez can just take the hot corner back. This also means saying goodbye to José Rondón, but I don’t really believe his low-average power surge is sustainable.
Acquire RHP Stiward Aquino from the Angels for C Welington Castillo and $3 million.
I really liked the Castillo signing at the time. The only reason I didn’t include him in my plan last year was because I didn’t think the Sox would be able to get him. Of course, a midseason PED suspension is a great way to kill any goodwill with your organization and fanbase.
Moreover, as I said above, Castillo just doesn’t fit on this team anymore. Unfortunately, these factors combined give the Sox about as much leverage on the trade market as they had with Nick Swisher. I suspect some team that really needs help behind the plate will allow Castillo to don the tools of ignorance, but they’ll want to acquire him at a discount and give up little in return.
I imagine the Los Angeles Angels would take on Castillo given that their current catchers are a 29-year old rookie, a 26-year-old rookie, and Kevan Smith. In exchange they’re sending Aquino, a 19-year-old pitcher with a lanky 6-foot-6 frame who lost his 2018 to Tommy John surgery.
Other Moves
Offer OF Eloy Jiménez a 7-year, $50 million extension.
I don’t expect Jiménez to sign an early-career extension the way many young White Sox players have. He’s a star waiting in the wings, and the Sox done him wrong at the end of 2018. That said, a record-shattering deal like this might get his attention given that his amateur signing bonus was a mere $2.8 million. It would also spare both sides the “Work on your defense for two weeks” charade.
In all likelihood, the charade is still on. If it is, Nicky Delmonico breaks camp with the major league team and, barring injury, he’s the odd man out come April 12.
Get Matt Davidson on a mound.
Seriously. I don’t think there’s any reason that a team can’t lean on its backup DH to throw two or three innings in garbage time. In an era where relievers are more important than ever, converting a defensively limited guy into a two-way player and pitching him in low-leverage situations can spare the rest of the bullpen. It may even allow the Sox to forego whatever random junkballer veteran swingman they would need instead. It’s the new market inefficiency!
The Roster
Lineup
2B Yoán Moncada
C Omar Narváez
1B José Abreu
DH Daniel Palka
LF Nicky Delmonico Eloy Jiménez
RF Avisaíl García
3B Maikel Franco
SS Tim Anderson
CF Adam Engel
Bench
C Jeff Mathis
UT Yolmer Sánchez
OF Leury García
1B/RHP Matt Davidson
Rotation
LHP Carlos Rodón
RHP Nathan Eovaldi
RHP Reynaldo López
LHP Drew Pomeranz
RHP Lucas Giolito
Bullpen
RHP Ian Hamilton
LHP Jace Fry
RHP Zack Burdi
RHP José Ruiz
RHP Nate Jones
RHP Thyago Vieira
LHP Caleb Frare
(Or swap in Ryan Burr, Carson Fulmer, Aaron Bummer, Juan Minaya, Dylan Covey, etc.)
Summary
You may have noticed that this team is not that good, but it’s a pretty big step forward from 2018. If things break right, they could push into the 75-to-80-win range, and that would set the table for a serious push in 2020.
This team’s payroll is in the neighborhood of $88 million, and only Eovaldi and Tim Anderson (and possibly Jiménez) have guaranteed contracts beyond 2019. That kind of flexibility opens up endless possibilities for next offseason, when the free agent market will be headlined by players like these:
Source: https://www.southsidesox.com/2018/11/1/18038098/michael-kennys-offseason-plan-and-plan-tracker
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As our world changes, what we don't know about parasites could be deadly
https://sciencespies.com/nature/as-our-world-changes-what-we-dont-know-about-parasites-could-be-deadly/
As our world changes, what we don't know about parasites could be deadly
In the salt water marshes of southern California, a splashing killifish is easy prey for a hungry shorebird. Like a jerking marionette, the helpless creature shimmies and flashes on the surface of the water. And all the while, hiding deep in its brain, an invisible other quietly pulls the strings.
The puppeteer in question is the super-abundant parasitic flatworm known as Euhaplorchis californiensis. Throughout its life, this one parasite will infect no less than three animals, and a bird’s intestine is the final destination it wants to reach.
To get there, the parasite’s larva must penetrate a killifish, crawl to its brain and lay down a carpet of cysts, which it then uses to manipulate the host’s swimming, sending it thrashing to the surface.
As it happens, infected killifish are preyed on by birds some 10 to 30 times more, which means that parasites are essentially increasing the amount of resources available in the ecosystem: a relationship we often overlook in the natural world.
The story of the infected fish is a tantalizing peak backstage, but it’s also a reminder of our sheer ignorance. As the world’s climate changes, we can’t ignore our parasites any longer.
A parasitic dark matter
Though often hidden to the human eye, parasites are, by some estimates, more than half of all known species on Earth. What’s more, they can influence virtually every other free-living animal.
Humans alone play host to nearly 300 types of parasitic worm, and around a third of us are currently infected, whether knowingly or not, with at least one.
They’re everywhere, on all sides, maybe even inside. And yet when we picture a classic food chain, how many of us remember the lions, zebras and grass, only to forget their hidden puppeteers?
Compared to free-living species, scientists have collected relatively scant information on parasites. Historically dominated by medical researchers and overlooked by ecologists and conservationists (Darwin himself viewed them as “degenerates“), these organisms are often entirely missing from modern depictions of food chains; even though, in the average ecosystem, parasite–host links actually outnumber predator–prey links.
Only in the last 30 years or so have we realized our mistake.
(Cizauskas et al., Royal Society Open Science, 2017)
Above: Global distribution of parasite climate change research. Research on parasitic species is disproportionately oriented towards human emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), especially in countries where the majority of parasite research occurs.
When parasites like E. californiensis are included in the ecology of California’s salt marshes, the classic food web – with a few predators at the top and lots of smaller species on the bottom – is almost literally “turned on its head“.
“Essentially,” the authors of a 2008 paper explain, “a second web appears around the free-living web, and this completely changes the level of connectivity.”
Parasites are thus described as a sort of hidden “dark matter“, not only in our ecosystems but also in our models of infection. When Chelsea Wood, a parasite ecologist at the University of Washington, first started researching mass fishing nearly 15 years ago, she told ScienceAlert that we had virtually no idea how this practice might impact resident parasites.
Even now, she adds, when ecosystems are facing unprecedented changes, we have only the foggiest idea how more than half the species on Earth are coping.
Whether acknowledged or not, parasites are key indicators and shapers of healthy communities, influencing the survival and reproduction of whole host populations, causing food web cascades or even epidemics.
Some call them the “omnipresent agents of natural selection“, others the “ultimate missing links“, still others the “invisible puppeteers“.
Whatever the label, it’s about time we consider the parasite.
Shooting in the dark
If the history of medical science has taught us anything, Wood argues, it’s that the emergence of a new infectious disease can go unnoticed for a long time: the tale of HIV, jumping from primates to humans decades before we recognized it as a global epidemic, is a prime example.
Today, a similar story might be unfolding in our oceans, like a shadow, creeping up the wall behind us.
“We really are just starting to scratch the surface on whether a changing world means rising rates of infectious disease,” Wood told ScienceAlert.
In the last few years, scientists have grown ever more concerned that our planet is not only getting warmer, it’s also altering the spread and distribution of parasitic diseases.
A recent finding by Wood’s lab indicates that from 1978 to 2015, there was a more than 280-fold increase in Anisakis simplex, a cold water nematode responsible for some 20,000 cases of herring worm disease, usually contracted from eating raw or undercooked seafood.
Whether the trend is due to fishing, climate change or something else, is hard to say for now. In Arctic waters, where this nematode flourishes and climate change is at its worst, we often lack baseline and long-term data, even for the best known parasites and their diseases.
Unfortunately, this means our future projections can often fall short of the rich reality.
The domino effects of climate change on parasites and their hosts. (Cizauskas et al., Royal Society Open Science, 2017)
The latest climate-parasite models are trying to fill-in this blind spot, incorporating not only climate data, but also information on parasitic life cycles, ranges, and opportunities for new hosts.
The initial results suggest that climate change will play a much larger role in disease transfer than we once thought. But what that specifically means for bird-flu, human malaria, A. simplex or other parasitic diseases remains unresolved.
After all, wherever there’s few data, there’s plenty of doubt. Even Wood, who directly measures parasite prevalence, admits that her research may well contain a sneaking bias. Researchers, you see, tend to pay more attention to those parasites that matter to humans.
“No one cares about parasites that are diminishing into extinction, because they don’t hurt people, they don’t hurt animals, they don’t cause outbreaks, they don’t ruin your fish fillet, they don’t crawl across your plate at the sushi restaurant,” Wood explains.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t a vital part of our ecology. While an increase or change in parasite populations will no doubt have serious repercussions for health and agriculture, the flip side may well entail ecological upheaval. Some parasites are certain to flourish, while others will likely decline and go extinct.
A 2017 study on 457 parasite species predicts that five to 10 percent are committed to this fate by 2070, solely from climate-driven habitat loss. The researchers went on to create the first “red list” for parasites.
“Accounting for host-driven coextinctions,” the authors write, “models predict that up to 30 [percent] of parasitic worms are committed to extinction, driven by a combination of direct and indirect pressures.”
Will the aforementioned E. californiensis number among these wormy losers? Will another invasive parasite take its place? What then will happen to the size, distribution and abundance of killifish? The hungry shorebird? The precious salt marshes? The humans who rely on them?
Gathering answers on the complexities of parasite-host dynamics in all the thousands of mammal and bird species is a simply impossible task, says Konstans Wells, a parasite ecologist and modeler at Swansea University.
“We need more data for certain aspects,” he told ScienceAlert, “but we certainly can’t sample everything and we also can’t wait with the modelling because there is always a need to make better forecasting or maps where diseases are being distributed.”
As the clock ticks, researchers must act like ghostbusters, hunting down invisible foes, diseases that don’t yet exist or have yet to re-emerge in some new unexpected location.
Danielle Claar, a postdoc working in Wood’s lab, is studying the effect of El Niño events in the parasite-rich Tropics, because she says these can act as windows into future warming. Others in the team are sifting through countless museum samples and old journals for evidence of the past.
“When you arrive into science you think everyone’s got everything figured out,” Wood says.
“But as you get deeper in you realize there’s so much we don’t know. It’s staggering.”
As the climate crisis takes a firm grip, squeezing some parasites out and holding on to others, what we don’t know could very will kill many. And that goes for both parasites and humans alike.
A version of this article was first published in June 2019.
#Nature
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In the wake of its February release, writer-director Jordan Peele’s debut film, Get Out, has done what few others in recent memory have — it’s a genre film that became a surprising box office success and cultural lightening rod, while centering on an exploration of racism and black identity. By its very nature, it shouldn’t be surprising that Get Out has inspired fraught conversations that have real-world implications. But there is one topic that has proved to be the most intense when discussing the film.
In a Hot97 interview last month, Samuel L. Jackson reflected on how different Get Out would be had the lead role been played by an American actor. Daniel Kaluuya, a black actor from London of Ugandan descent, stars as Chris, a photographer who travels with his white girlfriend to meet her liberal-minded parents in upstate New York*. Horror quickly ensues. In his interview, Jackson said, “I tend to wonder what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that. Daniel grew up in a country where they’ve been interracial dating for 100 years. What would a brother from America have made of that role?” Jackson acknowledged that Hollywood provides black actors more opportunities than the British film and television industry does. “It’s all good. Everybody needs work,” he added. Even when he later softened his criticism, it didn’t matter. The damage was done. Soon enough, Jackson’s comments spurned impassioned responses from casting directors and British actors like John Boyega, David Harewood, and Kaluuya himself, as well as kickstarting a round of wars among the members of black Twitter. The criticism against Jackson’s comments were united in arguing that what he said was ultimately divisive, given the racism black actors throughout the diaspora experience in crafting their careers.
Jackson’s critique touched a nerve, reigniting an old argument about the need for authenticity within black stories, and the value of black American actors in the face of the widespread, misguided belief that their British colleagues are more well-trained. The conversation around the merit of British actors over American ones is not novel, and it typically transcends racial distinctions. This tense dynamic has existed for decades, a classic example being the chatter around Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the 1957 film A Prince and a Showgirl. He was a British acting titan revered for his stage and screen work. She was a blonde bombshell who at the time had only recently become enamored of method acting, an American discipline that many mid-century homegrown actors like Paul Newman and Gena Rowlands trained in and is usually curiously absent in conversations of this sort. In recent memory, this conversation was sparked in 2015 around the release of Ava DuVernay’s Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, Selma, whose leads were British, with pieces like this one from BuzzFeed News, declaring “the rise of the black British actor in America.” I think it would be impossible to ask that all distinctly black American roles be played by black American actors. It’s also arguably a limiting way to think of art, always equating it to identity to such an extreme degree. But the rebuttals to Jackson’s comments haven’t actually engaged with what Jackson was saying. Take, for example, Kaluuya’s response in an interview with GQ: “That’s my whole life, being seen as ‘other.’ Not fitting in in Uganda, not Britain, not America. They just highlight whatever feature they want. […] I really respect African-American people. I just want to tell black stories.” He concluded by saying, “I resent that I have to prove that I’m black.” While Jackson frames the matter rather inelegantly, to put it mildly, nowhere in the interview does he question Kaluuya’s blackness. What Jackson was doing was pointing out that the black experience throughout the diaspora isn’t an interchangeable one like some filmmakers may like to believe.
As the black-American experience is proving to be seen as creatively and financially fertile territory in film and TV, you have to wonder why, if these stories are seen as vital, actual black American actors aren’t necessarily viewed as their ideal storytellers?
Generally, the answer to this question, and to arguments against comments like Jackson’s, fall into two camps: 1) That acting by its very nature is the art of evoking the lives of others, so black-American actors aren’t essential to these roles; and 2) British actors get these opportunities due to being better trained in a rigorous theater tradition that leaves them more artistically capable, whether it’s Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave, Idris Elba in The Wire, or the leads of Selma. On the latter point, a 2015 Entertainment Weekly piece argued, “[P]erhaps the biggest factor leading to the perception that American actors are falling behind is that the path to Hollywood fame in this country doesn’t necessarily go through the Actors Studio or Juilliard or the Yale School of Drama. Though Hollywood has its share of Jessica Chastains and Mark Ruffalos, well-trained professionals who studied at revered dramatic institutions, the difference might lie in the other cases, in which actors get a break in Hollywood with limited training or acting background.” The most damning statement about this ongoing feud comes at the very end of the essay, “the British are coming … because Hollywood needs them.”
That filmmakers repeat this argument is more troubling. During the promotion for Selma in 2015, writer-director Ava DuVernay, who is considered one of the most talented and politically aware directors working, explained to BuzzFeed News why she likes working with black Britishactors: “I think there’s something about the stage, because they have that stage preparation. Their work is really steeped in theater. Our system of creating actors is a lot more commercial … there’s a depth in the character building that’s really wonderful.” That same year, Spike Lee told Slate, “Their training is very proper, whereas some of these other brothers and sisters, you know, they come in here, and they don’t got that training. The training and craft, it’s the same thing and I see it when people come in to audition and stuff, they don’t got it together.” Lee and DuVernay’s beliefs suggest that there is something inherently missing when it comes to the American talent pool. That their quotes are somewhat insulting to actors stateside is one thing, but they’re also simply untrue. If you take a look at established and fledgling black American actors working today, you’ll find that many are highly trained: Denzel Washington went to Fordham and the American Conservatory Theater. Viola Davis, Tracie Thoms, Nelsan Ellis, Rutina Wesley (who stars in DuVernay’s Queen Sugar), and Anthony Mackie all went to Julliard. Mahershala Ali, who won Best Supporting Actor for his marvelous turn in Moonlight, earned a masters degree from New York University’s acting program. (He joked after his win to reporters on Oscar night, “I’m just so fortunate that Idris [Elba] and David Oyelowo left me a job. It was very, very kind of them.”) Ali’s Moonlight co-star Ashton Sanders was studying acting at DePaul University before dropping out to pursue his career full-time. This is a small sampling, but you get the idea.
André Holland, who’s had mesmerizing turns in Moonlight and The Knick and received his masters in acting at NYU, spoke about the bias against black American actors in a 2015 discussion with Interview magazine. “There are so many brilliant, trained actors of color in America. If you just think about it, every year in the spring Julliard and NYU and Yale and hundreds of schools across the country graduate classes of trained actors, and in those classes are actors of color. So to say that there aren’t enough actors of color is factually inaccurate. But more than it being inaccurate, it’s also really divisive and damaging and frankly disrespectful to the actors who are out here working. […] It really sometimes feels like a slap in the face to hear these British actors say that,” Holland said.
When I spoke to Prema Cruz, a black American actress who most recently had a brilliant guest spot on The Good Fight and went to Yale University for acting, she echoed Holland’s view. “There are people graduating from my program — black men and women — and they’re killing it. They aren’t Hollywood stars. If we’re talking about stars that’s a whole different thing,” Cruz said. What Cruz is alluding to is that there isn’t so much a dearth in black American actors who go through rigorous training so as much they aren’t given the opportunity to lead films and series with enough regularity that filmmakers and audiences would notice them. She also spoke of the “fetishized obsession” that is attached to British actors regardless of race, which itself has an undercurrent of classism. “There’s this misconception that [British, theater-trained actors] are more elite or more sophisticated than American actors,” she continued. This is something British actress Kate Winslet touched on in a 2015 interview: “When you are an English actor and you go into another country. They automatically assume you are fully trained … Which I’ve played on, believe me.”
The language that directors like Spike Lee use insinuates that stage preparation is both essential to great acting and that American actors demonstrate a lack of this. And while there are plenty of classically trained American actors, this obsession with theatrical training is in and of itself misguided. To make that argument ignores the differences between film and stage acting as well as the lineage of actors who haven’t had such training, but have given amazing performances that in turn shaped the medium itself — from classic Hollywood stars like Joan Crawford, who in many ways wrote the playbook on what it means to be a screen actor, to modern powerhouses like Elisabeth Moss. One of my favorite performances last year was Trevante Rhodes as the eldest version of Chiron in Barry Jenkins’s Academy Award–winning film Moonlight. His turn was brimming with sincerity and intensity. It is also the work of an actor not trained on the stage. Film history is richer for such performances.
One crucial aspect missing from this conversation are the inherent class politics of who has the resources and access to make such training possible. Many black actors in the early days of Hollywood had to find training elsewhere due to the deeply entrenched, racist attitudes that barred black performers from gaining access to it. As Cruz said toward the end of our interview, “Black actors have had to carve their own path.” Her statement can be applied to everything from black American actors who had to work the Chitlin’ Circuit from the 19th century onward to classic Hollywood denizens like Canada Lee to modern icons like Gina Torres. In their own way, each of these references reflects a truth all black artists must learn: to see yourself in places the rest of the industry could never imagine you being.
While the first issue Jackson raised relates to opportunity, the second comes down to craft: How might being a black American actor inform a black American role? This conversation keeps popping up in part because there has been a much-needed rise within the last few years in stories detailing the intricate history of the black American experience — some of which are explicitly about America’s own turbulent racial history — including Selma, 12 Years a Slave, Hidden Figures, Black-ish, and Queen Sugar. It’s important to note that while the leads in Selma and 12 Years a Slave are British, many of these examples employed black American actors in leading and supporting roles. That includes Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Shots Fired, a new TV series that subverts the expectations that come with police brutality stories by making the police officer black and the victim who dies a young white man. It forces us to confront some nasty questions about how racism flourishes in America and the black community’s relationship with the police, particularly within a southern milieu. That the executive producer, Prince-Bythewood, many of its directors like Millicent Shelton and Kasi Lemmons, and its star, Sanaa Lathan, are black Americans doesn’t mean the show is necessarily any better than if British artists were involved. But in showing the particulars of an experience that is not universal, there is a perspective they undoubtedly bring to the table. Black people throughout the diaspora, whether you’re from South Side Chicago or London or Nigeria, experience racism. But to say that this racism exists at the same tenor and manifests in the same ways flattens the diversity within the black experience itself. As Jackson said in his Hot97 interview, “Some things are universal but everything ain’t.”
There are a few things that underlie the belief that, because acting requires imagination and transformation, direct experience isn’t a necessity. And that thanks to some shared history and the common experience of racism, black actors no matter their origin are interchangeable (of course, American actors like Will Smith have been criticized for taking on African roles, like his work in Concussion, which had him adopt a shoddy Nigerian accent). As Richard Brody curiously expressed in The New Yorker, “In the case of Kaluuya, the gap between the experience of being a black person in Great Britain and the United States is perhaps not as wide as Jackson assumes.”
Some British actors take it even further, arguing that they have just the right amount of commonalities and distance to bring to life American stories in ways American actors may be too mired in direct experiences to do as poignantly. Carmen Ejogo, who played Coretta Scott King in Selma, told BuzzFeed News, “I’ve been trying to convince myself that being British has had no bearing on any of this, but actually I think that’s where it served me well. I’m not as entrenched in the history so immediately. […] I didn’t know who Coretta was until I played her the first time. And I think I have permission — that’s the definition of the artist, in my opinion — to be a little deviant. It wasn’t as daunting as it might have been for an American actress. An African-American actress … that might have been a bit more of a challenge.” In a BBC America interview, Oyelowo argued that having British actors spearhead Selma may have been a wise decision since they don’t have the so-called baggage American actors have when it comes to such a towering historical figure like Dr. Martin Luther Jr. “There’s something to be said for the fact that we are able to come at these films clean,” Oyelowo noted. And actor David Harewood, who played Martin Luther King Jr. onstage in The Mountaintop, argued in a piece for The Guardian, responding to Jackson’s criticism, that “[British actors are able] to unshackle ourselves from the burden of racial realities – and simply play what’s on the page.” Oyelowo, Harewood, and Ejogo’s comments are troubling in how they frame black Americans’ abilities to speak to their own history, as if we all have the same perspective on the civil-rights leaders whose stories were drilled into us in school, in church, in the living rooms of our homes. The relationship to this history doesn’t mean black Americans lack nuance or an understanding of the jagged edges these people had in their lifetime. Furthermore, the black experience, even in America, is not a universal one, although it is bound together by a bloody historical lineage. As Cruz said in our interview, “Being American is a very specific thing. Being a black American is even more specific. What’s even more specific than that is being a Southern black American. It isn’t a matter of just shifting your vowels and consonants and now I have a Southern accent. […] It’s a culture you come from, the mentality, the food you eat, the racial tension you’re constantly faced with. It’s slavery. What it does to your spirit and mentality. That seeps into your DNA, into your bones, into the way you see the world.”
Growing up as a black woman of Dominican heritage between Miami and New Orleans, I grew up learning very early the weight of slavery because I could see its aftermath on the faces of my own family. When you grow up passing by plantations in which it is safe to assume that someone from your own family line was brutalized, it undoubtedly shapes how you conceive of your blackness, racism, and the legacy of America itself. It’s this history that informs my work as a writer and my life as a woman today. To pretend the presence or absence of such experiences couldn’t enrich an actor’s work is to believe the fallacy that the black experience is a monolith.
I don’t fault black British actors for coming to America for work. It’s simple pragmatism. Many have spoken about why British actors move Stateside in order to find artistic fulfillment. As K. Austin Collins wrote in an essay for the Ringer, “Hollywood being the center of the West’s film industry, there are simply more opportunities for black actors of every stripe. That explains why black Brits come here. It doesn’t explain the perceived advantage they seem to have when going up for American parts.” I’m also happy to see more black talent doing well in Hollywood. That this argument rears its head so often demonstrates the paltry opportunities for all black actors, forcing them to look at their peers with wary cynicism. But criticizing black American actors and treating the black experience as if it is universal is not a way to combat this. If anything, this tactic reaffirms class biases and mistruths that deprive black American talent from having a voice in the way their history is refracted in film.
*An earlier version of the piece noted that Get Out takes place in the South. In fact, it takes place in upstate New York.
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