"There’s coffee stations, then you’ve got smoothie and juice stations. You’ve got the wine bars and the beer bars. You even have kegerators..."

"... in people’s offices, then you’ve got seltzer stations, and you’ve got the juice boxes and stuff for kids," said Wendy Trunz who "recently helped her 24-year-old niece, Noelle Mosby, organize supplies for making sparkling waters — syrups, coconut cream, flavored teas, a soda maker — on a tray in her kitchen. 'I’m just not much of an alcohol drinker,' said Ms. Mosby, who is studying Ayurvedic medicine in Asheville, N.C. 'But I do like my sugary drinks.'"

From "Coffee in the Closet, Diet Coke on Tap/Customized drink stations are appearing all over the home, from the kitchen to the bedroom" (NYT).

The article begins with a profile of a TikTok "influencer," a mother of 10, who has "a five-gallon water dispenser for hot and cold filtered water; two coffee-making stations; a wine fridge in the master bedroom for bottled water, protein drinks and her husband’s Red Bulls; a hot cocoa and toppings bar... two countertop nugget ice makers; and...

"The departments of English, classics, philosophy, world languages and Spanish and Latino studies... will be grouped into the tentatively titled School of Human Narratives and Creative Expressions."

"The psychology, linguistics, social work and religion departments will make up the School of Human Behavior and Well-Being.... Is the move, as college administrators argue, designed to get professors to collaborate more across disciplinary lines, and share administrative burdens? Or is the end of academic departments, and elected department chairs, a way to weaken the rigor that makes areas of study distinctive, making the humanities easier to shrink and ultimately push out? Adam Rzepka, an English professor who specializes in early modern literature, suspects the worst. The plan is 'insane,' he said in an interview, and is a fundamental attack on the university’s core mission: expert-led education."

From "At This College, the English Dept. Is Out. ‘Human Narratives’ Is In. At Montclair State University in New Jersey, a departmental restructuring plan is igniting concerns about the future of the humanities" (NYT).

From Rzepka's blog (at the "insane" link): "In the Trump era, we’re familiar with the idea that Stage IV capitalism has collapsed satire into reality.

"How many people have that much cash buried in tubs under their property?"

Wrote the trial judge, quoted in "Police Found $1 Million in a Tub Under a Garage. The Government Gets to Keep It. A court ruled that the hidden cash, which the police found while searching for an illegal gun in Ontario, did not lawfully belong to the man living on the property" (NYT).

On Dec. 1, 2009, the police searched a house on the outskirts of Thunder Bay, Ontario, looking for an illegal .22-caliber handgun. Instead, they found cash....

"I like cartoons and evening champagne and spending an hour looking at Instagram reels in bed. I like easy things too."

"But I’ve found, as I have grown older, the world has incrementally foisted upon me a preponderance of quick and simple easiness; it’s inescapable. What’s more, I like it! I like it too much! And reading a difficult book is not going to change that, or anything. Still, for at least a few hours a week, I have a chance to dedicate myself, among friends, toward material that requires sincere mental devotion, and I feel the satisfying kind of exhaustion. It’s fitting we began with Spinoza...."

Writes Sebastian Castillo, in "The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books/Learning is painful, pleasant and, above all, communal" (NYT).

The book club's first book was Spinoza's "Ethics." Castillo sums it up: "The book’s argument, supposedly, is that everything one needs for salvation is already at hand."

Sunrise — 7:01, 7:22.

Write about anything in the comments.

"Seeing Mr. Epstein write that Mr. Trump is 'crazy' or 'truly stupid' and that 'I am the one able to take him down' is certainly more entertaining than..."

"... reading the testimony of Anouska De Georgiou, who told the court... 'loss of innocence, trust and joy is not recoverable.' Or Teala Davies, who testified: 'I’m still a victim because I am fearful for my daughters and everyone’s daughters. I’m fearful for their future in this world where there are predators in power, a world where people can avoid justice if their pockets run deep enough.'... Their pain matters. Their names matter. We should not co-opt their suffering for our own agenda. We should not value our schadenfreude more than their courage."

Writes Jennifer Weiner, in "Endless Gossipy Chatter About Epstein. One Glaring Omission" (NYT).

"Across the country, the ancient tradition of Orthodox Christianity is attracting energetic new adherents, especially among conservative young men."

"They are drawn to what they describe as a more demanding, even difficult, practice of Christianity. Echoing some of the rhetoric of the so-called manosphere, new waves of young converts say Orthodoxy offers them hard truths and affirms their masculinity.... Many of the young Americans new to the pews have been introduced to Orthodoxy by hard-edge influencers on YouTube and other social media platforms.... Orthodoxy 'appeals to the masculine soul,' said Josh Elkins, a student at North Carolina State University who was chatting with other young men.'The Orthodox Church is the only church that really coaches men hard, and says, "This is what you need to do,"' said Mr. Elkins, 20.... Some converts report approvingly that Orthodoxy has a more masculine feel than other traditions. Priests, who must be male and can marry, often have large beards and big families. Orthodoxy asks practitioners to make sacrifices like fasting, rather than offering them emotional contemporary music and therapeutic sermons, which critics describe as the typical evangelical megachurch experience...."

From "Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts/'In the whole history of the Orthodox Church in America, this has never been seen,' a priest said about the surge of young men drawn to the demanding practice of Christianity'" (NYT)(gift link, because there's much more to the article, many photographs, and a torrent of negativity in the comments section).

Typical comments over there: "Wearing gilded robes and kissing gilded books is masculine? Having an imaginary friend that you follow rules for is masculine? These guys are desperate for meaning and will bend over backwards and forwards for it. Anything but actual self reflection and growth." And: "What a sad spectacle. Real Orthodoxy is rooted in actual cultures, like Serbia or Georgia or Armenia, and for good or bad you can find an authentic culture there. What this article describes is a ridiculous Youtube phenomenon."

"I'm alarmed enough when I see a woman with her dangling boobies. If I saw a penis in the ladies rocker room, I would freak out too."

"This is nothing against trans anybody. What it's saying is if I turn around and I see a pee pee — a penis — in front of me inside of the room, I would probably go to management and say, 'Wait a minute. Why is there somebody a naked man in this room?' Because... just from a safety standpoint and just from a, you know, from a privacy standpoint, I would so I can see why she would have gone and reported to management. There's a man naked in the — now, if they clarified and they said, 'Well, trans, okay,' but I think they should take her concerns also seriously because if she's uncomfortable, does she not have the right to be at least uncomfortable with this situation is what I'm saying...."

Said Joy Reid on her Reid This Reid That podcast:

I only quoted part of what's at that clip. Joy Reid goes on and on about nakedness and extensively details what's wrong with "dangling boobies." Nor is she a fan of the "flat ass." Jacque Reid joins in. Both women assert that they are not transphobic... as they go on and on saying what has been getting people called transphobic. It's quite amusing (and, to some, I presume, enraging).

Here's the NY Post article about it: "Joy Reid joins outrage at trans members in locker rooms: 'If I saw a penis … I would freak out, too.'"

"If Musk earns $1 trillion over the next decade... an average of $100 billion each year... [he]could make $3 billion more each year than all 1.4 million elementary school teachers in the nation combined...."

"Teaching isn’t the only essential profession Musk is set to out-earn.... Each year, Musk will earn $72 billion more than all 107,950 family medicine physicians in the U.S. Musk will also out-earn all 1,057,660 construction laborers by about $46 billion.... Musk’s average yearly payment roughly equals the combined paychecks of all 3.2 million cashiers in the U.S. America’s 747,750 lawyers are... et to out-earn Musk, with his average annual payment coming in at three-quarters of their combined earnings...."

From "Good work if you can get it: Elon Musk is set to make more than every elementary school teacher COMBINED/Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for the world’s richest person" (Independent).

I'll just do a survey:

Pick the option closest to your reaction.

This is emotional mush for dummies who don't understand economics.

This is useful for thinking about whether, at some point, economic disparities really do matter.

Economic injustice is real and I hope this helps more people care.

This shines a light on pure evil.

 

pollcode.com free polls

At the Tuesday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act "requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publish (in a searchable and downloadable format) all unclassified records, documents, communications..."

"... and investigative materials in DOJ's possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein. This includes (1) materials that relate to Ghislaine Maxwell, (2) flight logs and travel records, and (3) individuals named or referenced (including government officials) in connection with the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein. DOJ is permitted to withhold certain information such as the personal information of victims and materials that would jeopardize an active federal investigation."

Says the summary of the bill the House passed today, 427-1.

I'm skeptical about statements like this (from the NYT): "The House on Tuesday approved a bill directing the Justice Department to release all files related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a near-unanimous vote that was a stunning turn for an effort that Republicans had worked for months to kill."

All files?

"One colleague supposedly told Couric that 'with Deborah [Norville], people feel like they need to get dressed before they turn on the TV.'"

"Couric admits that during her time at TODAY she was unwelcoming to other women because she felt like she needed to 'protect my turf.' She writes that she was aware that 'someone younger and cuter was always around the corner' and singles out Banfield as an example. Couric writes: 'For a minute there, Ashleigh Banfield was the next big thing; I'd heard her father was telling anyone who'd listen that she was going to replace me. In that environment, mentorship sometimes felt like self-sabotage.'"

From "Katie Couric rips into former TODAY Show colleagues, admits she froze out female rivals to 'protect her turf,' says her toyboy ex was a 'midlife crisis' and takes potshots at Prince Harry who stank of alcohol in her new memoir" (Daily Mail).

"How do we squash the prejudice against female presidential nominees, which has always been with us, but became even worse after Kamala Harris got whomped by Donald Trump?"

Asks Gail Collins in a column with a title that asks a different question, "Where, oh Where, Will the First Female President Come From?"

Maybe it would be better to ask this other question, my question: When will we ever get to evaluate a female presidential candidate as just another presidential candidate? We've been nudged too many times to pick the woman because she is a woman. It makes people wary. I mean, really, why was Kamala Harris foisted on us?

So, yeah, she got "whomped." I'm collecting these colorful words that make losing seem violent but also fun. I'm thinking of George W. Bush taking what he called a "thumping" in the 2006 midterms, and Obama, after the 2010 midterms, saying he'd experienced "a shellacking."

Gail Collins is talking about whomping and squashing. Brutal words, but still polite. Euphemisms.

What's the etymology of "whomp"? It's the sound. A heavy, low sound. From the OED, quoting a 1960 issue of New Scientist: "The Sunday edition of the New York Times..whomped to the floor outside my apartment door."

"'A book isn’t a bad website, and a typewriter isn’t a bad computer,' says Richard Polt, collector, professor of philosophy..."

"... and the author of a defiantly countercultural book, The Typewriter Revolution. 'A typewriter is a thing with its own individuality, integrity and beauty. It doesn’t push content at people. It draws words from them.' Like a bicycle, Polt argues, a typewriter is 'a self-contained machine that doesn’t depend on external sources of power' but works its magic through a combination of human energy and inspired design. This makes it a precious counterbalance to the relentless expansion of digital technology — using one, he argues, can 'strike a blow for self-reliance, privacy and coherence, against dependency, surveillance and disintegration.'"

From "Why collectors are falling for retro office equipment/This month Christie’s will take bids for the first mechanical calculator, made in 1642. What’s led to the increasing appreciation and value of old apparatus?" (London Times).

"Grover Cleveland... was most easily roused to wrath when someone was misquoting Tennyson. There was thus some irony..."

"... when, in later years, Cleveland's political opponents dubbed him 'The Buffalo Hangman,' both because the label could have boomeranged in his favor and because it masked the fact that Cleveland was an especially faint-hearted executioner.... And yet he didn't have to do it...."

My son Chris reads biographies of the American Presidents and sometimes texts me photographs of striking passages.

This comes from "A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland" (commission earned):

"The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, a breakthrough that provides a legal U.N. mandate..."

"... for the administration’s vision of how to move past the cease-fire and rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip after two years of war. The Council’s vote was also a major diplomatic victory for the Trump administration. For the past two years, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas has raged, the United States had been isolated at the United Nations over its staunch support for Israel. The U.S. resolution calls for an International Stabilization Force to enter, demilitarize and govern Gaza."

The NYT reports excellent news.