From the New York Times obits: Sharon Begley, a Top Science Journalist, Is Dead at 64 Long at Newsweek, she was regarded as one of her generation’s pre-eminent science writers. An “Enlightenment-era figure,” Jon Meacham said. … Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, wrote on Twitter that Ms. Begley would … [Read more…]
From my sister Theresa – Tis Time For A FUNDEMIC!
A NY Times Book section obituary Diane di Prima, Poet of the Beat Era and Beyond, Dies at 86 and an Associated Press obituary were published today, 10/28/2020. From the New York Times: Ms. di Prima often spoke of the influence of her maternal grandfather, Domenico Mallozzi, a tailor and ardent anarchist who had immigrated … [Read more…]
Ed Yong writes in the Atlantic about America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral and ends with this: 9. The Habituation of Horror The U.S. might stop treating the pandemic as the emergency that it is. Daily tragedy might become ambient noise. The desire for normality might render the unthinkable normal. Like poverty and racism, … [Read more…]
A humanitarian hero has passed away – her obituary is in the New York Times …
The Guardian, again, hits the nail on the head with this spot on essay “Republicans are hypocrites. They happily ‘de-funded’ the police we actually need” by David Sirota: After two weeks of police violence and protests, Republican politicians have been pretending to have a fainting spell over the phrase “defund the police.” “There won’t be … [Read more…]
In the Columbia Journalism Review is an essay The bad news quietly buried during the pandemic by Zoë Beery: With the world’s attention glued to the coronavirus pandemic, news about anything else has been slipping farther and farther down the proverbial front page. But that doesn’t mean nothing’s been going on. Whether by design or … [Read more…]
I just finished reading Lillian Hellman’s Scoundrel Time and am fascinated that these events from 1951 – 1952, the HUAC hearings, have such resonance with today’s administration. Today, thieves are thick, grandstanding the operative mode, derision and bullying are the norm as they were with Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon in this era. Employing such … [Read more…]
I get a digest of the latest news on news and reporting from the Pew Research Center. One recently caught my interest was from Buzzfeed on the new “Black PR firms” who will, for a fee, generate, structure and support any lie you wish. Scary isn’t a strong enough word, terrifying is more apt. It … [Read more…]