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[josh]

https://www.public.asu.edu/~jmlynch/273/documents/FreudEinstein.pdf

In 1932, Einstein and Freud had an exchange of letters that has come to be known as the "Why war?" letters.

Some of us might find them interesting.

[josh]

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2021/0909/What-happens-when-protesters-take-over-for-the-police

I recommend the deep read.

[josh]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/28/opinions/roald-dahl-antisemitism-netflix-perry/index.html

This is presented not because of Dahl, himself, but because of the underlying question of the place in society of figures with flaws and their place - and their works' place - in our society.

Whether it is the objection to the Founding Fathers' race and gender biases and its twin of the objections to those objections or Orson Scott Card's anti-gay stance and whether to boycott his works and the movie(s) made from them, our schools, parents, and kids are called to consider and respond to these issues.

Is it the same as banning books, or only a 2nd cousin? Does including these authors intentionally allow us to address the notion that people can be flawed whether brilliant or not and/or to talk about how pervasive prejudice can be and some of how it spreads? Or does our very inclusion cause that spread?!

[Holly Martins]

(apostrophes removed intentionally)

Im pretty much of the school of artistic works stand or fall on their own merits.   I like several Woody Allen films,  he is a great writer/director.  Ive read and liked Speaker for the Dead, and Enders Game, and maybe will reread them some day (still mean to get to Xenocide, too) and I havent really looked into what his antigay stance is,  or what nuances if any lie there.   Ive read and enjoyed the books of PG Wodehouse,  Agatha Christie, Dahl, Yukio Mishima, Nietzsche,  Mark Twain,  and dozens of other writers who have been slammed for poisoned ideas,  and not felt that my tender mind was irreparably polluted or that they were agents of spreading toxicity.   

Card,  in particular, does not seem to me,  based on what I have read of him,  to be advancing any homophobia (or xenophobia, heh) in his writing.   Indeed,  his antigay stance is quite surprising to me.   So maybe I will just ignore that part of him,  as I will ignore the racism,  misogyny,  and other prejudices that were pretty much baked in to just about every writer who was working before the late twentieth century.

[josh]

(apostrophes removed intentionally)

Im pretty much of the school of artistic works stand or fall on their own merits.   I like several Woody Allen films,  he is a great writer/director.  Ive read and liked Speaker for the Dead, and Enders Game, and maybe will reread them some day (still mean to get to Xenocide, too) and I havent really looked into what his antigay stance is,  or what nuances if any lie there.   Ive read and enjoyed the books of PG Wodehouse,  Agatha Christie, Dahl, Yukio Mishima, Nietzsche,  Mark Twain,  and dozens of other writers who have been slammed for poisoned ideas,  and not felt that my tender mind was irreparably polluted or that they were agents of spreading toxicity.   

Card,  in particular, does not seem to me,  based on what I have read of him,  to be advancing any homophobia (or xenophobia, heh) in his writing.   Indeed,  his antigay stance is quite surprising to me.   So maybe I will just ignore that part of him,  as I will ignore the racism,  misogyny,  and other prejudices that were pretty much baked in to just about every writer who was working before the late twentieth century.

I strongly recommend Xenocide and, for that matter, Enders Shadow and that sequence. Children of the Mind is very skippable, IMO.

Songmaster is among his works that more vividly display his antigay stance, though still not as blatantly as all that.

Art stands on its own merits is certainly an understandable take on things.

[Hamilton Samuels]

(apostrophes removed intentionally)

Im pretty much of the school of artistic works stand or fall on their own merits.   I like several Woody Allen films,  he is a great writer/director.  Ive read and liked Speaker for the Dead, and Enders Game, and maybe will reread them some day (still mean to get to Xenocide, too) and I havent really looked into what his antigay stance is,  or what nuances if any lie there.   Ive read and enjoyed the books of PG Wodehouse,  Agatha Christie, Dahl, Yukio Mishima, Nietzsche,  Mark Twain,  and dozens of other writers who have been slammed for poisoned ideas,  and not felt that my tender mind was irreparably polluted or that they were agents of spreading toxicity.   

Card,  in particular, does not seem to me,  based on what I have read of him,  to be advancing any homophobia (or xenophobia, heh) in his writing.   Indeed,  his antigay stance is quite surprising to me.   So maybe I will just ignore that part of him,  as I will ignore the racism,  misogyny,  and other prejudices that were pretty much baked in to just about every writer who was working before the late twentieth century.

UM...What did Woody Allen do wrong, btw?

 As for Roald Dahl, well how can we not condemn him? Remember that Anti-Semitic phrase so often repeated by the BFG? You know, "Schnozzcumbers!" That was a direct reference to the Jews!

Clearly his books should be banned.

[josh]

(apostrophes removed intentionally)

Im pretty much of the school of artistic works stand or fall on their own merits.   I like several Woody Allen films,  he is a great writer/director.  Ive read and liked Speaker for the Dead, and Enders Game, and maybe will reread them some day (still mean to get to Xenocide, too) and I havent really looked into what his antigay stance is,  or what nuances if any lie there.   Ive read and enjoyed the books of PG Wodehouse,  Agatha Christie, Dahl, Yukio Mishima, Nietzsche,  Mark Twain,  and dozens of other writers who have been slammed for poisoned ideas,  and not felt that my tender mind was irreparably polluted or that they were agents of spreading toxicity.   

Card,  in particular, does not seem to me,  based on what I have read of him,  to be advancing any homophobia (or xenophobia, heh) in his writing.   Indeed,  his antigay stance is quite surprising to me.   So maybe I will just ignore that part of him,  as I will ignore the racism,  misogyny,  and other prejudices that were pretty much baked in to just about every writer who was working before the late twentieth century.

UM...What did Woody Allen do wrong, btw?

"On December 24, 1997, Woody Allen, the 62-year-old Academy Award-winning writer-director of such movies as Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters, marries 27-year-old Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, in a small ceremony in Venice, Italy."

History dot com

[Hamilton Samuels]

(apostrophes removed intentionally)

Im pretty much of the school of artistic works stand or fall on their own merits.   I like several Woody Allen films,  he is a great writer/director.  Ive read and liked Speaker for the Dead, and Enders Game, and maybe will reread them some day (still mean to get to Xenocide, too) and I havent really looked into what his antigay stance is,  or what nuances if any lie there.   Ive read and enjoyed the books of PG Wodehouse,  Agatha Christie, Dahl, Yukio Mishima, Nietzsche,  Mark Twain,  and dozens of other writers who have been slammed for poisoned ideas,  and not felt that my tender mind was irreparably polluted or that they were agents of spreading toxicity.   

Card,  in particular, does not seem to me,  based on what I have read of him,  to be advancing any homophobia (or xenophobia, heh) in his writing.   Indeed,  his antigay stance is quite surprising to me.   So maybe I will just ignore that part of him,  as I will ignore the racism,  misogyny,  and other prejudices that were pretty much baked in to just about every writer who was working before the late twentieth century.

UM...What did Woody Allen do wrong, btw?

"On December 24, 1997, Woody Allen, the 62-year-old Academy Award-winning writer-director of such movies as Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters, marries 27-year-old Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, in a small ceremony in Venice, Italy."

History dot com

Did you have a point?

[josh]

(apostrophes removed intentionally)

Im pretty much of the school of artistic works stand or fall on their own merits.   I like several Woody Allen films,  he is a great writer/director.  Ive read and liked Speaker for the Dead, and Enders Game, and maybe will reread them some day (still mean to get to Xenocide, too) and I havent really looked into what his antigay stance is,  or what nuances if any lie there.   Ive read and enjoyed the books of PG Wodehouse,  Agatha Christie, Dahl, Yukio Mishima, Nietzsche,  Mark Twain,  and dozens of other writers who have been slammed for poisoned ideas,  and not felt that my tender mind was irreparably polluted or that they were agents of spreading toxicity.   

Card,  in particular, does not seem to me,  based on what I have read of him,  to be advancing any homophobia (or xenophobia, heh) in his writing.   Indeed,  his antigay stance is quite surprising to me.   So maybe I will just ignore that part of him,  as I will ignore the racism,  misogyny,  and other prejudices that were pretty much baked in to just about every writer who was working before the late twentieth century.

UM...What did Woody Allen do wrong, btw?

"On December 24, 1997, Woody Allen, the 62-year-old Academy Award-winning writer-director of such movies as Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters, marries 27-year-old Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, in a small ceremony in Venice, Italy."

History dot com

Did you have a point?

Opinions are welcome, especially when fleshed out and supported by facts.

But "lol" is not an opinion. Nor is "you should read what you wrote." Similarly, "all you do is lie, deny, and obfuscate" is not permitted.

Add "did you have a point?" to the list of pointless comments that are not welcome.

[Holly Martins]

Re Woody 

I'm not sure I want to bother explaining why romancing a stepdaughter then marrying her is considered gross and exploitative.   Maybe there are remote Pacific Islands where it's not.   Manhattan is not one of them.   I'm not going to pass judgment on the other allegations of sexual molestation, though they are pretty disturbing and would make me think twice about letting him babysit. 

Dahl was virulently antisemitic.  I think I'm going to be okay with people not buying his books.  But banning remains something I can't advocate.   In fact,  it may be worthwhile for some to read him precisely because his work may yield insight into a mindset that was sadly pretty common in the previous centuries.   His book,  The Witches,  as Josh's linked article noted...

"created a caste of hook-nosed women who can literally print money and who like to kidnap and murder innocent children. The characterization appears to draw directly from the blood libel slander, the medieval and modern conspiracy theory that Jews annually kidnap and murder Christian children."   

Yeah,  I don't need to put that on the grandkids birthday gift list.   But maybe when they're older,  it would be good that their generation doesn't forget the kinds of distorted and paranoid thinking that Dahl epitomized...and where that thought process can lead.   

[Holly Martins]

Right now, the worlds second-most powerful state, China, is committing genocide against its own people and dismantling the freedoms of a city of several million, but the West continues to trade with it almost as if nothing is happening. Even as Western governments busily sanction Russian oligarchs, they continue to let Saudi oligarchs buy up their companies, sports teams, and homes, despite the fact that their leader, according to U.S. intelligence, approved the butchering of a journalist in one of his embassies. In Syria, long after Barack Obama declared that Bashar al-Assad (must go) and predicted that he would, the dictator remains in power, backed by Putin. Across the Middle East and North Africa, the Arab Spring has largely petered out into a new set of brutal dictatorships, save for one or two exceptions. In Africa and Asia, Chinese and Russian influence is growing and Western influence is retreating. It may be comforting to say that Putins troubles in Ukraine now prove the enduring power of the old order, but it is difficult to draw that conclusion when looking at the world as a whole...

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/03/western-unity-putin-russia-ukraine/627013/

[Oiled]

What if planet Earth was a no-fly zone?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220519-what-if-we-all-stopped-flying

[Oiled]

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/07/building-house-expensive-market-inflation-nimby/670596/

How can you help make housing affordable in your community?  Start with zoning laws that allow builders more options, and say no to "vetocracy."

[Oiled]

I feel that this thread could be the "Grownups" thread, where the non-troll members could discuss current events.  The title itself seems to function as a troll repellent.  Anyway, post em if you got em, and I will keep looking in.  Probably am done with the main politics (Biden) thread for now.  Just not worth strapping on the hip waders. 

[josh]

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/07/building-house-expensive-market-inflation-nimby/670596/

How can you help make housing affordable in your community?  Start with zoning laws that allow builders more options, and say no to "vetocracy."

Our community recently agreed to relax the 3 acre zoning minimum for builders willing to put in 55+ housing, in the hopes of creating more affordable units. The costs of building aren't any lower, of course, but it ought to help some.

And there is a new law requiring towns along a corridor of the commuter rail lines to have a certain number of apartment units -- something denser than anything many of the outlying communities (like ours) have ever had. The law is being challenged in court - it makes far less sense for a town like ours that has no public transit that would get one from here to the nearest train station than for those with bus routes that would serve this purpose and there is no sign that that obvious next step is being considered.