Blog

  • Basic Human Rights

    The story out of Politico shouldn’t have surprised anyone, but somehow we were all surprised by it. Of course, the Conservatives on the Supreme Court were going to overturn Roe; everyone knew this. It’s been their goal for thirty years.

    I do grow very tired of Chief Justice Roberts insistence that the SCOTUS is not a political institution, and is an independent deliberative body. Sadly, the truth is that you are not an independent thinker if your reasoning is completely predictable. That goes for both sides. Its why I want liberals on the court to protect Roe, just like how they want conservative up there to destroy Roe. Again, we all know this. Roberts needs to get with the program.

    Also, if you don’t want to be seen as a political body, then stop doing political shit. The reality of the matter is that there are at least four justices up there that want it to be political. They could have concurred with the lower court’s ruling, but no, they had to her the case. They chose to be political on this matter.

    And this should be the Democrats rallying cry from here on out, but I’m not encouraged. The Democrats will fuck this up. They have just been given a political gift of a major issue to talk about that NOT the economy, and it’s an issue they can win on. If the Dems frame it as “They take away your rights, we defend your rights.” The Roberts court limited voting rights, labor rights, free speech rights, now women’s rights. What could be next? Gay Marriage? Interracial Marriage? Right to Council?

    But they won’t. The Democrats will drop the ball. They already have. Chuck Schumer is already calling for a vote in the Senate so Americans will know where each Senator stands. We already know where everyone stands!!! That does nothing! Why do Democrats keep bringing balloons to the gun fight? Conservatives got the upper hand on this issue by appealing directly to people’s emotions. Not by calling for symbolic votes. Chuck, you gotta start playing the same game, but you won’t. Schumer and the other Democrat leadership will roll out useless gestures and meaningless facts, when they need to be telling people that the house is on fire, because the house really is on fire!

    The implications of this probable ruling are quite simple; Two Americas – Abortion, and Anti-Abortion. There will be states where women can live in liberty with equal rights, and states where liberty is claimed but denied to women. But it won’t end there, for the goal is to defeat all forms of abortion, to where women lose the basic human right to decide if and when they want to get pregnant. The hypocrisy of this possible ruling remarkable in its inability to hide how unworkable it would be in practice. House Divided, remember.

    There is no exception for a basic human right.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Moving, Weather, Tottenham, and Crappy Time Lords

    (Half days are killers)

    Last night, we brought up the idea of moving apartments to the kid. She did not like the idea, and I understand why. Her objection was that she didn’t want to leave her friends, and I knew that was coming. Having gone through the pandemic and not being able to see anyone, she now is living a rather normal childhood; school, parks, friends. (She’s just missing playdates, but I know that is coming.) For a seven-year-old, she’s living the dream. We mentioned to her that moving to a different neighborhood in the City would mean that we would have a bigger apartment to live in, and though she would be in a different school, we were still in the City and can come back and visit her friends. That didn’t sell her. To her, our little corner of Harlem is the best place in the world.

    I don’t like getting older sometimes. Lately, I keep thinking and talking about the weather, which clearly is a sign that I am getting older. Such as, it was 40 degrees this morning, and it’s the end of April. As we are about to hit May, it should be warmer. I say this because the month of May is one of the reasons I still live in New York City. It’s supposed to be not too hot and not too cold. It’s a Baby Bear month! I want to put on a lite coat and sunglasses and take a walk. It’s the little things in life that make it worth living, and I need my little things, damn it!

    Tottenham better beat Leicester, and West Ham needs to beat Arsenal. That’s my weekend.

    What if we are living in the “fixed” timeline? What if things got so bad that people in the future went back in time and “fixed” whatever made things so bad, and this is the “better” version of things?

  • Short Story Review: “The Repugnant Conclusion” by Elif Batuman

    (The short story “The Repugnant Conclusion” by Elif Batuman appeared in the April 25th & May 2nd issue of The New Yorker.)

    Kierkegaard!

    It’s just fun to say it! Kierkegaard!

    I know he was Danish, but I like to say his name in a heavy German accent, like I’m acknowledging a rival has bested me.

    Kierkegaard!

    Personally, I like any short story that openly tackles anything philosophical. (Bonus points if you mention KIERKEGAARD!) “The Repugnant Conclusion,” by Elif Batuman, is such a story. The piece revolves around three friends who are sophomores at Harvard; Selin (the narrator), Svetlana, and Lakshmi. Summer vacation is over and they are all returning back to school, and they do what college kids do; they study, they talk, they think about sex, they have sex, they think about life in and out of school, and try to take what they are learning and use it, or at least discuss it. But they are not the old “normal” Ivy League college kids. They are Turkish, Russian and Indian respectively. It is a factor in their experience at college, and how they will go forth in the world when they leave. They are aware also of their Americanness, as well. All factors that weigh on them.

    I enjoyed how this story introduced me to characters I had not experienced before, and I also enjoyed how they reminded me of my college experience with my friends. I found the story truthful in the perspectives each character had. Nothing seemed forced or put on. Yet, I knew full well that each character was staking a different philosophical position in a narrative structure. (Kierkegaard!) It’s a trick, and one that if played wrong could come across as heavy handed and shallow. I thought Batuman hit the right note. Maybe these characters will be like this for the rest of their lives, maybe it’s a phase, maybe they will evolve into something else. Maybe it’s just sophomore year.

    And maybe it’s just life.

    (Say, don’t forget to like this post, or share it, or leave a comment. I got bills to pay, you know.)

  • Writing in Public; A Personal History

    My current office is a public library in Harlem. I come in the afternoon, and this is where I do some of my writing. I can get some work done in the morning, and usually that is when I blog. After lunch, I head out to the library to work on everything else. This situation works well, especially for my wife who works from home. When I head out, that gives her the afternoon alone in the apartment so she can focus and get her work done, as well.

    I like my local library. It’s not too big, and is never too crowed either. I can find a space to work, listen to my music, and outside of one guy who clearly is some sort of remote IT specialist which requires him to speak on his phone to clients, it’s rather quite here. (Though I did witness two old guys almost get into an old man fight over who could sit at what table.) There is something nice about being surrounded by books.

    I am not the brilliant one who came up with this idea of using the library. It was my wife who suggested that I use the library to work. And she got the idea from our good friend who uses her local library as the place where she writes. I was hesitant at first to do it, but I now admit that was a mistake. I have been rather productive, at least word count wise.

    Writing in public is something that I have tried doing, on and off, since high school. Back then, there was a local all-night coffee shop/diner that I could camp at. After high school and in college, I would camp at a local IHOP, and that ended up becoming a hang out with all my friends. Then I turned twenty-one, and started hanging out in bars, which I didn’t write in, as that’s not why you go to a bar.

    Then I moved to NYC, and made friends, and one of them owned a bar in Manhattan which I would visit. Trying an effort to be a supportive friend, I would always suggest his bar to other friends as a good place to meet up for a drink. On occasions that I would get to the bar early, and would be waiting on my friends to arrive, I would pull out my journal, and write at the bar to kill time.

    I actually felt very comfortable doing it, and soon I started just going to that bar to write in my journal alone. The bar was shaped like an “L” and I would sit at the short part next to the wall, so I could watch the goings on of the long part bar. The staff got to know me, I am sure because I was friends with the owner, and we would converse, but then they would give me some space to work.

    Sadly, the pandemic closed down his bar, and I really haven’t been able to find a good replacement.