Got lots of free stuff at the fair

[conuly]

And one woman was very eager to encourage us to sign a petition asking NYS to push for a Convention of States. "It's a non-partisan action." Well, a convention could be non-partisan, but realistically, will it be? Lets look at the text of the flyer she handed us:

Unelected bureaucrats have stripped states of their rightful decision-making authority. Consequently, the national debt is out of control, regulations crush free enterprise, and our freedoms have been compromised. Article V of the Constitution empowers the states to hold a Convention of States to propose constitutional amendments to limit federal power, spending, and regulations. Amendments can also create better checks on the judiciary so that the courts apply the Constitution as written rather than the Constitution as interpreted as activist judges.

Regulations are bad, states rights rule, and judges are just stomping all over the Constitution? Yeah. That doesn't sound so non-partisan to me. But nice try.

****************

The Lost Film Footage of 1904 London (Video)

A Rare Yellow Lobster Joins a Boston Aquarium’s Lobster Rainbow

Our Small World Through The Lens Of Russian Photographer Sergey Maximishin

Albino Trees

How Not To Sort By Average Rating

Cathay Williams went from slavery to a place in the U.S. Army (The link says she is the first black woman to serve in the U.S. Army, this of course should be amended: She is the first one known to have done so. If there were others, they kept it secret.)

Football Among the Old Believers, in Alaska (There is another article here)

Odd inheritance: 1889 landmark courthouse with clock tower

What's Creepier Than a Creepy Doll?

First World Solutions

How modernity is creeping into India's remote tribal communities

Abandoned States: Places In Idyllic 1960s Postcards Have Transformed Into Scenes Of Abandonment

The Incarcerated Women Who Fight California’s Wildfires (The comments are refreshingly low on the blame game.)

When Less is More: How putting fewer people on probation and parole can reduce prison populations, save money and keep us safer.

I was a neo-Nazi. Then I fell in love with a black woman (I wanted to scoff, but it's actually interesting.)

NYC tries fencing in often-violent Caribbean celebration

You're not imagining it: the rich really are hoarding economic growth

Hunters, government, industry at odds over deer urine

Making Sense of the Violence in Charlottesville

In Lebanon, Syrian Refugees Met With Harassment And Hostility

Wildfires surge amid scorching heat across US West

Mattis: North Korea threat would bring massive military response

South Korea, U.S. plan more drills after North Korea nuclear test rattles globe

North Korea missile fear sets pre-emptive strike debate in Japan

The 2016 election may have indeed been hacked: report

Wells Fargo: Actually, We Were 70 Percent More Corrupt Than Initially Revealed

Trump to end DACA, give Congress six months to act

As Harvey finally fizzles, a look at what made it so nasty

Texas governor says Harvey damage could climb to $180 billion

'Your eyes start itching': pollution soars in Houston after chemical industry leaks (Including from several Superfund sites)

Harvey reveals corporate hubris regarding safety

Houston mosques open doors to Harvey victims on Muslim holiday

Houston's homeless shrug off riding out Harvey on streets

Life After ISIS Slavery for Yazidi Women and Children

Comments

[ioplokon]

Yeah, I'm so torn on the state's rights thing cause like... On the one hand, it sounds nice in California. But on the other, historically the precedent is not a great one.

Saving the ex Nazi piece to read later cause I'm so interested in how to get people to leave those movements. But sadly, the common trend is just "some random incident woke up my sense of empathy" which is... Idk, just depressing and difficult.

[conuly]

In this case, it's more like she became a neo-Nazi to cope with a rough home life (including being deeply closeted with a mother who was homophobic and racist) and then once she was imprisoned she realized that the people in prison who were kindest to her were black and then, later, she came to terms with the gay thing.

[kalloway]

I've watched the Wells Fargo thing with a sort of morbid curiousity, since my previous job was in retail banking and some of the things we had to do to get (more) accounts was ethically a mess and violated my own morals enough times that it was a factor in finally working on getting out of there.

I don't know if anything has changed with the company I used to work for, but I really hope it has.

[wpadmirer]

I love how the the ultra-right wing types couch their petitions in patriotism.

[conuly]

Well, what do you expect?

[conuly]

I hope so too. I'm glad you were able to get out of that job.

[siderea]

But sadly, the common trend is just "some random incident woke up my sense of empathy" which is... Idk, just depressing and difficult.

More specifically, it's "I finally came into contact with the people we were hating, and I discovered they were people".

This isn't news; this has been a motive force behind lots of social justice initiatives, from Massachusetts' METCO school desegregation program to National Coming Out Day. Conversely, it's why racists are so often against "race mixing" and for segregation.

[siderea]

Wells Fargo: Actually, We Were 70 Percent More Corrupt Than Initially Revealed:

The statement said Wells Fargo was committed to ensuring such fraudulent practices would never take place again. Free meditation services are available, and Wells plans to continue answering customers’ concerns amid the fallout.

I mean, maybe it's a typo....

[conuly]

I didn't even catch that!

[conuly]

Conversely, it's why racists are so often against "race mixing" and for segregation.

Indeed, though they have a hard time working to the logical conclusion here.

[ioplokon]

I know it's just... frustrating that this is the way it has to be to get people to wake up since like.... if you don't happen to be the person from your marginalized group that they end up empathizing with... it can go so, so badly for you? I mean, I'll keep reading these pieces but it just seems like such a roll of the dice for when/if they come to that realization? I dunno it's just sad and exhausting in a way that I'm having trouble describing.

[bibliofile]

re: that ex Nazi piece
It helps that the article is from the BBC and not some US media outlet. Makes a big difference right there.

[killing_rose]

I am absolutely shocked that that particular community of Old Believers have allowed their children to play sports with outsiders. Much less are letting the girls compete in anything. (I grew up on the Peninsula. I respect their decisions and those in Nikolaevsk to keep their old ways. However, I have a much harder time squaring that with the form of Russian Orthodox that's rampant in the Native communities I grew up in because colonialism, and I'm not the only one [mixed or otherwise] who struggles with that.)

And do not even get me STARTED on their role in the commercial fisheries. I will be here for the next four hours explaining in minute detail WHY they are not accepted by subsistence fishers, those of us who use setnets and dipnets, hell, even why the commercial fishers have their issues with them.

There's also the reasons why there's several (mostly Native, we'll own it) communities still a bit...pointed...about the fact that the Old Believers settled in Alaska between 40 and 60 years ago and why.

[Nikolaevsk is older; they've been having a hell of a time with younger kids refusing to speak Russian or stay. There's less of an issue with that in Voznesenka and the other villages that broke off out of Nikolaevsk because they broke off for exactly that issue, which is why I am absolutely SHOCKED that they've allowed sports in which you have to compete against outsiders. I have literally seen Old Believers not allow their children to speak with a single person, even if they're doing something like buying an item. This becomes FUN if there's an issue with payment or the item. I stg at least several of them figure the rest of us are psychic. Or raised in barns. Possibly both.]

[conuly]

Thanks for the context.