Boycott? There's an App for That!

After watching a zoom screening today of Abby Martin's excellent documentary _Gaza Fights for Freedom_, I learned from the discussion afterward that there are apps that can make it easier for you to boycott Israeli apartheid. I installed Buycott, which lets you participate in any number of campaigns, and selected both the BDS and Buy Union options.

www.buycott.com

The Wrapup Smear -- Explained and Exemplified in the Very Same Video!

So, a severely bubbled friend sent me a video purportedly showing Nancy Pelosi describing "the Democrat playbook" known as the "wrapup smear." It's a tactic for demonizing your political enemies to distract from the real issues. You can see her explaining it here:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?430348-1/minority-leader-pelosi-very-confident-support-caucus&start=1557

As you can see, she's ascribing this tactic to Republicans, but in reality both capitalist parties practice it (and, to the more limited extent their position permits, so do more marginal political elements).

But you wouldn't know this from the clip my friend sent me -- because the part mentioning Republicans has been edited out. This is what allows the narrator to claim Pelosi is making a confession about her own party's methods. It should be needless to say that Pelosi is too smart to say any such thing in front of C-SPAN's cameras.

No, Socialist Lefties Aren't Right-Wing Either

Having recently received in the mail the issue of  _Root Quarterly_ in which it's republished, I'm re-reading Helen Pluckrose's essay, "No, Liberal Lefties Are Not Right-Wing."

I should note that, while I completely agree with the critique of the identitarian left which is central to this essay, I do so from the standpoint of the socialist left, and not that of a liberal leftie like Pluckrose. And I think she's unfair in accusing us of "not seeing much use for liberals." That's really true only of the more sectarian groups. Lots of socialists have no trouble forming coalitions with liberals around issues we agree on.

Unfortunately, what is true is that many on the socialist left, without subscribing to the identitarians' standpoint epistemology themselves, nonetheless seem unwilling to ally themselves with liberals to defend rationality when doing so could risk the identitarians' ire. This is something that needs to change.

https://areomagazine.com/2018/08/23/no-we-are-not-right-wing-we-are-liberal-lefties-and-we-are-many/

Quote of the Day (Humor)

"This newsletter is printed from 100% recycled electrons." -- Electronic Frontier Foundation

They Wanted My Submission -- and They Got It!

I've submitted an entry in PAT at Giovanni's Room's queer writing contest. It's a poem I composed last October and recited at the following Erotic Literary Salon, but hasn't been published anywhere. If the people at PAT like it enough, they'll include it in an anthology. Wish me luck!

On the Merits of Free Speech Metaphors

https://www.thefire.org/coronavirus-and-the-failure-of-the-marketplace-of-ideas/

What the title refers to is a failure of the *concept* of the marketplace of ideas. I've never cared much for this metaphor myself, simply because, unlike commodities, I can acquire an idea without taking it away from you.

Quote of the Month (Humor)

"You should have learned my boy, that only the rare spirits grow in mental stature after the age of, say, five-and-a-half. Whenever one does he qualifies as an Immortal." -- R. F. Delderfield, _To Serve Them All My Days_

No to Ideological Totalism in the Green Party!

I received a communication today from Lavender Greens, the caucus for LGBT members of the Green Party of the United States, asking me to join them in demanding the Georgia Green Party repudiate their recent endorsement of a statement titled "The Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights."

They further demand the state party's leaders submit to "training" about "the necessity of gender affirmation to protect the lives of trans youth and trans adults," that any leader who refuses to do so be expelled, and that, if the state party doesn't accede to these demands, it be disaffiliated from the national party.

I found this development alarming and responded with this letter to the national office:

I am strongly opposed to the campaign by Lavender Greens to impose ideological conformity on the Georgia State Green Party over their endorsement of a declaration reflecting a divergent interpretation of the Key Value of "feminism and gender equity." As a bisexual and past participant in Lavender Greens, I am not in complete agreement with either of these interpretations, but I reject entirely the notion that such differences should be addressed  by means of Stalinist-style "self-criticism" and "re-education." Please refrain from interfering with the Georgia party's autonomy on this question.

I read the Declaration thoroughly before composing this letter, because I sensed I would likely not be in ideological agreement with either side of the dispute. And, indeed, I am not.

Although the Declaration uses the language of human rights, what it's really about is an ideology of group rights. And so is the Lavender Greens' counterposed position. Both express identitarian politics -- in one case identitarianism based on biological sex, and in the other based on subjective gender identity. So, for instance, it says that "[t]he inclusion of men who claim a female 'gender identity' within the legal category of mother erodes the social significance of maternity," without offering any explanation of how this would practically handicap cisgender women. That's because it's not really about protecting the human rights of individuals -- it's about protecting the "rights" of an abstraction, the identity "woman."

Similarly, the Lavender Greens' statement purports to be about "protect[ing] the lives of trans youth and trans adults," but it doesn't support this claim with facts. Instead it simply cites a document titled

"Health considerations for gender non-conforming children and transgender adolescents." Is this a peer-reviewed paper? Not at all. It appears on the website of the UCSF Transgender Care Navigation Center -- that is, a facility dedicated to a certain kind of treatment that is supported by a particular kind of ideology. A vested interest, in other words. Clearly Lavender Greens chose to link to it simply because it endorses a position that's ideologically amenable to them. This approach is not supported by empirical research on outcomes for trans-identifying youth, notwithstanding the American Academy of Pediatrics' claim to the contrary. You can read here how the AAP misrepresents the data to justify their ideology-driven position: www.jamescantor.org/uploads/6/2/9/3/62939641/cantor_fact-check_of_aap.pdf

The reason this matters is that many trans-identifying youth have actually been harmed by the assumption that all they need is drugs and "affirmation," rather than "watchful waiting" as practiced in most of the world, and therapy to help them clarify the roots of their gender dysphoria. A number of women who identified as trans men for a period, only to subsequently desist from doing so, have spoken out on how more encouragement to introspect, instead of rushing into medical transition, would have served them better. You can find some of their stories here: www. piqueresproject.com.

Root Quarterly is Holding an Anniversary Fundraiser

From their website:

One-Year Anniversary Party & Fundraiser

• Saturday, April 11, 2020
• 7:00 PM 10:00 PM

• Philadelphia Ethical Society 1906 Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA, 19103 United States (map)

• Google Calendar ICS

Please join us on April 11 from 7 to 10 p.m. for a cocktail party at the Philadelphia Ethical Society to celebrate one year of Root Quarterly: Art and ideas from Philadelphia.

SPACE IS LIMITED, SO GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

General Admission: $45

Deluxe Ticket: $65 - includes the first volume (four issues) of Root Quarterly

We’ll have a short program from 7:30 - 8:15 featuring music and conversation with pianist and composer Sumi Tonooka, a display of designs from Nancy Volpe-Beringer, and plenty of time to enjoy lite bites, drinks, and conversation with fellow RQ subscribers, contributors, and sponsors, as well as the artists, makers, and business owners who have been featured in the first volume of RQ.

Sponsorships are available starting at $500; if you’re interested in supporting us with an event sponsorship, please contact us for information.

This event is also a fundraiser for RQ, and we welcome your tax-deductible donations beyond the ticket sales. Please visit our support page for ways to give. Checks should be made payable to “Root Quarterly of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia” and can be brought to the event or mailed to:

CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Building
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 320
Philadelphia, PA 19107 

As I've discussed previously (here and here), this is a fine publication notable for its dedication to the principle of free thought. I encourage everyone who can to attend and/or subscribe.

Free Speech and Capitalism Don't Mix

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/482689-twitter-misleading-trump-video-biden/

It's nothing but capitalist apologetics for this author to claim "creative legal reasoning" is what's allowing Internet platforms to censor their users. The simple truth is that the US Constitution is a capitalist instrument that only prohibits censorship by government acting in its own name. It was never intended to protect us from censorship by private businesses such as those owned by the people who wrote it. This is why capitalist politicians never call for any government action against it.

The only candidates I've seen calling for free speech online are Democrats Mike Gravel and Tulsi Gabbard and Green Howie Hawkins. It's no accident their campaigns aren't funded by Big Business.

Whereas under capitalism Internet freedom needs special legislation making an exception to the general principle of private property, in a socialist democracy it would be an automatic consequence of making the platforms publicly owned facilities. As the father of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill, noted:

“In this age, the mere example of non-conformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people should be eccentric. Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time." (On Liberty)

Only in a society that has transcended capitalism can this principle be consistently and reliably fulfilled.

From One of the Original Coronavirus Experts

Subject: CORONA VIRUS PRECAUTIONS

From a friend -

The best advice available from the doctor who has studied coronaviruses for 30 years.
Date: February 26, 2020 at 2:35:50 PM EST
Subject: What I am doing for the upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Dear Colleagues, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.

The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread in the US by mid to late March and April.

Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:
1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.
2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.
3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.
4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.
5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.
6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.
7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!

What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:
1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.
Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.
2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.
3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.
4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.

I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be. Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.
I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. You are welcome to share this email. Good luck to all of us! Jim

 

James Robb, MD FCAP

Root Quarterly Keeps Looking Good!

As previously pledged, now that I have a little disposable income I've ordered another issue of Root Quarterly, the journal of "art and ideas from Philadelphia." And reading the contents on their website just confirms my high opinion of it -- the first issue included Helen Pluckrose's great essay, "No, Liberal Lefties Are Not Right-Wing," which I've previously read on her online magazine Areo, and have encouraged others to.