Neil Peart, and so it goes.
The I Should Be Writing podcast with "ISBW #472: Trust the Basement Dwellers… It’s easy to get mired in your own mind. Trust your subconscious, and know they don’t work very well if you’re not letting them write." On the intuition of doing things, or how internalized rules and functions help you work. Also, that subconscious, here there be Muses. For those long-time reader know, for writing I often talk about the Muse. The muse, your muse, is your subconscious mind (which works at speeds that are multiples of your conscious mind, that internal dialog). And I intentionally talk about the Muse as if she (and mine is a she) were an external entity in the classic Greek style (on my office wall at work I have framed postcards of Charles Meynier's Apollo and the Muses except for the center painting with Apollo and Urania because ick). But she is the voice from my subconscious that sometimes knows better than my conscious just WTF I'm trying to write about. And here I will give my caution to new writers, do not be dependent on the Muse showing up before you write. Muses are fickle and they will only reward those who show up to do the work. Start writing without the Muse. You'll find they'll show up after you start, even if you don't recognize them. Sometimes it's a leap of faith. Be willing to make it.
"Using home remedies such as herbs, teas and vitamins or a prescription drug obtained from Mexico, Texas women have tried to end their pregnancies themselves three times more often than women in other states, a new study finds." And abortion is still legal, although not geographically or demographically evenly available. This is the future of a nation under right-to-life. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"One of the largest studies about women's emotions after an abortion finds most feel relieved and don't regret their choice, even if they struggled beforehand or worried about stigma… Researchers found that at five years after having an abortion, only 6% expressed primarily negative emotions. The overwhelming majority of women surveyed -- 84% -- had positive emotions or no emotions whatsoever about their abortion decision, even if they hadn't felt that way when they were making the decision to have an abortion."
"Sentencing is scheduled to begin on Monday in the criminal trial of top executives at Insys Therapeutics. This landmark case was the first successful prosecution of high-ranking pharmaceutical executives linked to the opioid crisis, including onetime billionaire John Kapoor."
"A volcano south of the Philippine capital has sent a massive plume of ash and steam spewing miles into the sky and pushed red-hot lava out of its crater, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people and the closure of Manila's airport."
How goes the Trade Wars? "How Trump’s trade war is making lobbyists rich and slamming small businesses… Washington’s influence industry, including former Trump officials and allies, has made big money helping companies get exemptions from tariffs — sometimes by undercutting small business owners like Mike Elrod." How's that libertarian ideal working out for you? Kinda sucks, doesn't it. The president is draining the swamp… right into his and his friends pockets. (Grokked from Laura J. Mixon)
"Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secured her second presidential term with 8.2 million votes — the most any leader has secured since Taiwan held its first direct presidential elections in 1996."
"In the months since office-sharing startup WeWork’s botched public debut, mid- and late-stage investors in big start-ups have been pushing for more safeguards in case their firms fail to go public or sell shares at a lower valuation than pre-IPO financing rounds." Ah, the myth of the risk taking entrepreneurs and our bold and brave investor class. I don't know, maybe investigate actual business performance instead of "capital potential" before investing? I know, crazy idea, right? But again you see how those with money want a guarantee of major returns on their money. But they're all for sticking the down side with the rest of the public schmucks.
"In an open letter, a group of 13 former White House press secretaries, foreign service and military officials call for the return of regular White House and other press briefings. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors." An unaccountable government.
"The Trump administration is planning to announce on Monday that more than 20 Saudi students receiving military training in the United States will be sent back to their home country, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter." I guess the Saudi's $1B for more US troops didn't include a training rider.
"Apologies from Iranian leaders over the downing of an airliner last week have done little to quell mass anti-government protests spreading across the country… Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets this weekend condemning Iranian authorities for shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane and killing all 176 people on board."
"Less than a day after Iran finally acknowledged that its armed forces unintentionally brought down a Ukrainian jetliner, Iranian authorities' admission of the 'unforgivable mistake' has had major reverberations — both in Iran's capital, Tehran, where demonstrators crowded local universities Saturday, and around a stunned world."
Just as a reminder, the crew of the American destroyer USS Vincennes that downed an Iranian jet liner Flight 655 were given medals by Pres. Reagan.
"President Donald Trump authorized the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani seven months ago if Iran's increased aggression resulted in the death of an American, according to five current and former senior administration officials." The story keeps changing, demolishing all attempts at justification that have been given previously. But it's beginning to look like an assassination that was executed as a target of opportunity. "Defense Secretary Mark Esper presented a series of response options to the president two weeks ago, including killing Soleimani. Esper presented the pros and cons of such an operation but made it clear that he was in favor of taking out Soleimani, officials said." And yet, in a stunning admission over the weekend, Sec. Esper admits he did not see any intelligence about Soleimani planning attacks against our embassies (the justification given by the president). Let that one sink in. This was a military strike (not a CIA directed drone strike) that the justification was imminent attack on four of our embassies (as explained by the president), and yet our Secretary of Defense did not have the intelligence and wasn't concerned enough to get briefed on the matter before giving an interview. The person at the nexus for military intelligence didn't see anything. The person responsible (besides the president) and they didn't even both to ask what the hell happened (and was completely side-lined for the operation). The obvious answer is the intelligence does not exist, but that's even more worrying that this extrajudicial killing is entirely unjustifiable.
"The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, and her aides were scrambling to prepare for an event with little precedent in American history — the impeachment trial of a U.S. president. In just a few weeks, they would have to advise Chief Justice John Roberts on how to run that trial and address a slew of arcane procedural questions that few — if any — had ever been asked. Their answers, they knew, could influence how the historic event unfolded." How the sausage is actually made. Also, this is how government is supposed to work. People tasked with carrying on the actual work do research and prepare themselves to answer the questions of the people who will "do" the work. Prepared. It's like we haven't seen that from our elected or appoint officials in years.
An opinion piece… "In the Soviet Union, show trials were a legal farce in which the guilt of the accused had been determined well before the hapless defendant was dragged before the court. But even in the most grotesque of Stalinist proceedings, the court went through the motions of hearing the testimony of witnesses and receiving evidence, even if those motions were entirely pro forma… Today in America, we are confronted with a sad inversion of the Stalinist show trial: the 'McConnell show trial.'" Other countries have claimed our justice is a sham, it's just they had to work hard to make that point. Now they can just phone it in.
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