It was a bit odd traveling to Randolph in 2020. All the usual events were canceled. The town was incredibly quiet - kind of eerie. Here are some insta posts. You'll notice that I complained about how my cell phone camera would not capture foliage colors. I bought a new phone since, so, if I get up there for foliage season this year, I'll get better pix.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
A spiritual response to fake news
I am trying to formulate discussion questions for my Friends Meeting (Quaker) on the topic of truth in today's environment. Here is my current formulation. I may add things later
- What does the 9th commandment mean to us? (not to bear false witness against our neighbor)
- Mens rea (state of mind) – In the law in the USA, there are generally 4 levels of mens rea: intentional, knowing, reckless, and negligent. We don’t lie intentionally, but what about these other levels of mens rea?
- How do we evaluate sources of information? What is our trust network? What is the trust network of the person we are talking to? How does one choose a trust network? Memes/Conspiracy Theories/Urban Legends
- Looking at ethics statements from News Media. Do they indicate their standards for evaluating sources? Do they indicate policy on getting more than one source? How might we be news media ourselves as we repeat things we hear online?
- What is the emotional content of information? What is our tone? How are emotions being manipulated? How does tone add to or detract from truth?
- When is misinformation important? When is correction of an error merely legalistic or pedantic? When is misinformation hurtful? Defamation? Bullying?
- What is the motivation? Profit? Hatred? Love? How are we serving someone else's purpose by reacting to or conveying information? Who is profiting by our being upset? News media as purveyors of drama, for instance.
- What can we communicate to other faith groups? How would they respond to a request to develop and disseminate standards?
- What might we do to influence the public on this issue, e.g. a website, brochure, or other resource for communicating our beliefs about truth?
- How do we address “alternate facts?”
Some links of interest
- list of codes of ethics of newspapers https://members.newsleaders.org/resources-ethics
- Reiss article/jewish perspective https://www.jlaw.com/Articles/RabbinicCounseling1.html
- wikipedia on code of ethics in media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_ethics_in_media
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On July 5, 2021, I facilitated an interest group with New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends on the topic of "Seeking Truth: A Spiritual Response to Fake News." Another topic came up that I wanted to add to this blog:
- Looking at the bias of a news source: conservative? liberal? business interests?
Friday, April 30, 2021
recent selfies
You can see larger versions of these photos if you click on them.
Also, here are some shots from January 2020 that were done as an alternate for a commercial
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Chemo pix
I keep having friends who are going through cancer. It's distressingly frequent. I have 4 friends on social media right now who are going through treatment for breast cancer.
One thing that I notice is that some people are horribly afraid of chemo before they start it. Some of them refuse chemo out of fear -- a treatment that might considerably prolong their lives.
I am often a bit reluctant to share about having had chemo. I'm afraid that acting gigs might discriminate against me if they knew.
I'm realizing that I should share though. I was in chemo twice and I had a positive experience both times. It's not so bad.
The first time I had the carbo-platin/taxol combination. The taxol is what makes you lose your hair. The carbo-platin is what makes you nauseated.
What people don't realize is that there have been huge advances in anti-nausea drugs. I never threw up once during chemo. I had a few instances of breakthrough nausea but I just took some extra ginger or Xofran and I was fine.
I was often fatigued a few days after chemo. Not right after, because they gave me steroids, but 3 and 4 days after. But most of the time I felt fine.
People should be aware that taxol does cause long term nerve damage. Fortunately, it's just some small numb areas in 2 toes on each foot, for me.
The second time I had chemo I had the carbo-platin/doxil combination. To my surprise, neither of these drugs caused hair loss or nerve damage.
Doxil is associated with heart damage, but I seemed to tolerate it alright, at least at the time. I have a slight tachycardia now, but I have reason to believe that that may have been there all along and worsened by my current medication, Zejula. It's well managed by Atenolol.
Again, I had fatigue a few days after chemo, but then I was fine -- and I only had to have these drugs every 4 weeks the second time.
I took selfies when I was bald during the first chemo. I had a lot of fun with being bald, and trying hats and scarves. I wasn't a big fan of wigs. I have a large head and my wig never fit very well. It was nice and warm though.
Anyway, I made up a google photo album of chemo selfies, to show you that I was having a good time with the look. I haven't been willing to throw away those scarves, because they're so beautiful, even though I don't wear them any more.
Here's the link to my google photo album
https://photos.app.goo.gl/K2QHPNc54WdfqhCr9
One of those pictures is with Don McLean after a concert by him. I even got hit on after that concert, because someone liked my headgear with the pearl fringes so much. I didn't take him up on it, but it was flattering.
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Long twitter thread about withdrawing from Afghanistan
Let me just add that we have been evil as well as stupid.
Monday, April 19, 2021
Audio System at SFM
Photos of components of the audio system (missing photo of power supply)
Manuals of the audio system
Second visit:
***********
Third visit
What we need is to go from 6.5 mm audio male to USBA audio male.
I accidentally brought TRS rather than TRRS cables. I returned them to Amazon and ordered new ones. I left the surge protector, as those are always useful
We’ll likely need a Daisy chain of cables.
Image of what I’ve ordered. The 3.5 mm female to USBA male includes a chip
The 3.5mm female to 6.5 mm male converter did not work as advertized. It was a headset converter, not a microphone converter, so I substituted this one
Update 210620
- 3 Crown PZM-30GBP mics installed in ceiling (communicating via XLR cables through hole in ceiling near east wall)
- AMR aps4 phantom power supply (3 input XLR cables; 3 output XLR cables on floor; 3 switches: power, lift in & lift out; plugs into wall to power on mics) (need to take picture of this, put up an image that I found online.)
- Harbinger HA80 mixer (takes the output XLR cables from power supply; uses 6.5 mm audio output -- use 8 Ohm output, not the line out)
Connectors that worked with David's computer (Lenovo running Ubuntu)
- 6.5mm to 3.5mm Trrs Adapter (Bietrun?) (female to male)
- DuKabel USB to 3.5mm Jack Audio Adapter, USB to Aux Cable with TRRS 4-Pole Mic-Supported USB to Headphone AUX Adapter Built-in Chip External Sound (female to male)
- Cablesforless USB 3.1 Gen 1 C Male to A Female Adapter 5G 3A (female to male)
Talked to Apple. They basically abdicated. The device was visible to the system, but not picking up signal.
Update 210629
Considering a projector
sample relationships between projection distance and screen size:
sample screen sizes:
Need to measure the size of the wall above the fireplace (8.5' across)
Monday, April 5, 2021
Another view of the Georgia voting laws
My sister-in-law in Georgia has given me some additional information about the new Georgia voting laws which give a...
Posted by Anne Barschall on Monday, April 5, 2021
Comment on her response by another person
As Pulitzer Prize winner and former WSJ senior national correspondent Douglas Blackmon warned, the Georgia law:
1. Removes from the State Election Board the vote of the Secretary of State—even though under Georgia Constitution, the Scty of State oversees elections. It also puts the board under the control of the legislature. And the election board can suspend and replace any local election official basically anytime they want, for just about any reason—like having an honest election. In Nov 2020, that would have allowed the state legislature to do exactly what Trump wanted.
2. You can still vote absentee for any reason, but now it’s illegal for officials to send absentee applications to every voter. The law also reduces how much time a voter has to request a ballot, and blocks any organizations that help people get absentee ballots. It also requires every absentee voter to jump through extra hoops that a voter at the polls does NOT have to.
3. The new law sets up requirements for early voting—like not allowing it after 5 pm—that make it harder for working people to vote. It also eliminates mobile voting stations, except in an emergency—like hurricanes or alien invasion—and only if the governor says to do it. Also puts huge limits on local officials allowing extra “drop boxes” for absentee ballots, another way of increasing the odds of long long lines at the regular polls. Altogether, the law discourages absentee voting and makes early voting less effective. The intent seems to be to cause much longer & slower lines at the polls, which, again, will mean large numbers of working class, urban, minority, elderly, and sick voters who just give up and go home.
Another writer noted that the law also criminalizes minor administrative errors, such as having someone improper witnessing the completion of an absentee ballot. Complex, confusing rules scare off voters, especially young voters.
There was no significant voter fraud or other irregularities in Georgia or anywhere else in November 2020 or earlier. This law is an anti-American effort to sway close elections to the GQP.
More friends’ comments:
You still need a social security card or birth certificate to get an ID. Many poor people don’t have either and can’t afford to get them. If we want to solve these problems, we can. I’m pretty sure GOP officials don’t want to even though getting all citizens an ID would help in combating illegal immigration.
Furthermore, every additional step to vote, including obtaining or renewing an acceptable ID, is especially burdensome on people who are paid hourly and/or have young children at home. They may need to take time off from work (hence, lower pay); they may need a sitter for their young kids at home. Driver licenses are usually acceptable, but people in urban areas (who tend to vote Democratic) are less likely to have cars and therefore licenses. In NH, college students can't use their student ID for voting, so they have to get something else. All these steps discourage voting, especially by people who are young; minorities; low-income; and/or who live in urban areas.
Regarding Fulton and Dekalb counties, and long lines, your sister-in-law's characterization is a fiction: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924527679/why-do-nonwhite-georgia-voters-have-to-wait-in-line-for-hours-too-few-polling-pl. The State of GA, at the behest of the GOP-controlled Legislature, has reduced the resources for support of voting. Counties with large populations do not, it appears, get more resources than counties with small populations. Requests from county officials to the State government have been met with no action. So don't try to blame local officials, and say it's black mayors and black city councils causing the problems. That's an outright falsehood, and continuing to propagate the myth in the face of contrary evidence makes it a lie. It's also illogical for your sister-in-law to portray herself as an expert or an authority on the topic, when she doesn't read NYT, which is one of the least-biased and most-truthful information sources there are; at least, if one avoids the editorial page (the same is true for WSJ, BTW). See AdFontes.org.
The tactic employed here by the GOP parallels the tactic employed with respect to taxation and the IRS. Voting in GA: the GOP doesn't want Black voting, so they starve the voting process of resources, so that the flow of votes diminishes to a trickle. Taxation: the GOP doesn't want taxation, so they starve the collection process (the IRS) of resources, so that the flow of tax monies diminishes to a trickle.
Just because getting an ID is free doesn’t mean it’s accessible. You are required SEVERAL pieces of documentation that are not always easily accessible. Especially to elder people whos public records may have been lost or (maliciously) destroyed.
Georgia voter ID law. Since the citation begins with 21, it's probably the new law. The best thing about this law is that an expired GA drivers license is a valid ID for voting. Many states do not allow this, yet it's the only ID that many poor and elderly people use for transactions.
If you don't have one of the approved IDs, and need to get a dedicated Voter ID card, there are requirements that look suspect: 1) Evidence that the applicant is a registered voter, and 2) Documentation showing the applicant's name and address. Granted proof of address establishes where you should vote, a US passport doesn't provide this. Military IDs may not either. Nor does anyone with one of the pre-qualified IDs have to prove they're registered to vote. So why are these obstacle created for the "undocumented"?
Note also: "You are not required to provide identification when you vote absentee by mail." That's odd. Common sense tells you that committing a crime in person is riskier than doing it remotely. So requiring an ID for voting in person but not absentee is backwards. Their reasons for this are suspect. Security on absentee ballots has always been loose. Republican states never cared much about that before because absentee votes were predominantly cast Republican: elderly, people who travel, people who own multiple residences.
https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections/georgia_voter_identification_requirements2
NPR today says early voting can be on either Saturday or Sunday in Georgia- but not both. Where I live in NC there is early voting on BOTH Saturday and Sunday.
"Georgia gives free voter id's and has for years. It's insulting and racist to assume poor minorities are unable to get id's."
This is a favorite phony argument among Republicans. The whole point of Voter ID laws is to create a time-consuming obstacle to voting for people who do not have a current drivers license. These are heavily urban dwellers and the poor, groups that vote 70% or more Democratic. Creating a burden that falls disproportionately upon the other party's voters is the entire purpose of Voter ID laws.
Georgia voter ID law. Since the citation begins with 21, it's probably the new law. The best thing about this law is that an expired GA drivers license is a valid ID for voting. Many states do not allow this, yet it's the only ID that many poor and elderly people use for transactions.
If you don't have one of the approved IDs, and need to get a dedicated Voter ID card, there are requirements that look suspect: 1) Evidence that the applicant is a registered voter, and 2) Documentation showing the applicant's name and address. Granted proof of address establishes where you should vote, a US passport doesn't provide this. Military IDs may not either. Nor does anyone with one of the pre-qualified IDs have to prove they're registered to vote. So why are these obstacle created for the "undocumented"?
Note also: "You are not required to provide identification when you vote absentee by mail." That's odd. Common sense tells you that committing a crime in person is riskier than doing it remotely. So requiring an ID for voting in person but not absentee is backwards. Their reasons for this are suspect. Security on absentee ballots has always been loose. Republican states never cared much about that before because absentee votes were predominantly cast Republican: elderly, people who travel, people who own multiple residences.
https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections/georgia_voter_identification_requirements2
Articles about long lines for voting in Georgia
Wapo commentary on Governor Kemp
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