Friday, February 09, 2018

Weekend Reading: Missing a Routine Edition

I'm still settling in at the new job. I've got some real projects now, but can't really see what the rhythm of my work days will be like, and I am still experimenting with which days work best for going to the gym, and what time I'll need to leave to get a workout in and still get to the kids' school in time for pick up. In fact, given the work from home flexibility at this new job, I'm still trying to figure out which day or days I'll use that flexibility. It feels like everything is up in the air!

I wrote about this a bit in this month's Founding Chaos newsletter. Basically, I miss having a routine. I don't mind that there will be occasional deviations from the routine, but having a routine makes it easier for me to get my workouts in, and makes it easier for me to know when I can have chill out time and when I want to be working on one of my projects.

Oh well. I'll settle into a routine eventually.

On to the links.

Benjamin Witte and Jonathan Rauch writing in the Atlantic about the case for boycotting the Republican party was pretty jaw-dropping.

Neither Witte nor Rauch are partisan Democrats. Brian Beutler (who definitely writes from a liberal view point) makes the case that election defeats may not be enough to right the Republican ship.

The problem isn't just Trump, or the Congressional response to him. A lot of people have written about the anti-democratic behavior of some of the state Republican parties. I think Jamelle Bouie's piece covers the main offenders well.

GumRoad founder Sahil Lavingia moved from San Francisco to Provo, Utah. His post about moving from one bubble to another is really good, I think. As a life-long Democrat who grew up among Republicans, I've long thought that the two "sides" don't really see each other accurately.  I've always tried to view the other political side with empathy, and try to see the good motives they are pursuing, even if I disagree with their policy positions. I am struggling to maintain that right now, and I don't know what to do about it, to be honest. I feel like a lot of Trump supporters just don't view me as fully American, and I'm not even sure they actually see me as fully human some days. I don't like feeling this way, but I have to be honest about how I feel. If we get through this period in our politics with our democracy intact, we'll have a lot of healing to do. I don't know how we'll get to the point of being able to do it, though.

In other depressing topics:

Dahlia Lithwick on the Rob Porter case is fire-breathing truth.

And this thread from Rebecca Traister is way more eloquent than I could be, but I agree:




And Kirsten Gillibrand connects that disregard for women as people with the policy situation:


Jose Garcia was brought to America illegally when he was 10. We recently deported him to Mexico. A reporter went to visit him and see how he is adjusting.

If you've heard people going on about kratom and spinning conspiracy theories about why the FDA wants to regulate it, here's a good explanation of the science of the situation written by a drug discovery scientist.

This article about what Facebook has done to the online comedy ecosystem is really interesting.

This book looks really interesting.

In podcasts this week....

I listened to Tommy Vietor's interview with FBI special agent Ali Soufan and I really hate Dick Cheney again.... But aside from that, it is a really thoughtful discussion with someone who spent a large part of his life fighting terrorists about what it takes to actually succeed in that fight.

Krista Tippet's interview with Atul Gawande is just phenomenal. (Can you tell I'm really loving the On Being podcast? But really, this is an excellent interview about what matters in life, right up to the end.)

In tweets:

A good response:




Some truth about Star Wars:



Bunny!


Happy weekend, everyone.
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