botany, shoes, books, and justice
Blacks had tied themselves to the Republican party, the party of Lincoln and civil rights laws. The Democrats were the party of slavery and segregation. As Goodwyn puts it, “in an era of transcendent white prejudice, the curbing of ‘vicious corporate monopoly’ did not carry for black farmers the ring of salvation it had for white agrarians.”
1892. From Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States
Yesterday I wrote a post for Tenure, She Wrote about what it’s like being poor in academia, what you can do to increase your odds of success when you are poor, and how to support poor graduate students. It really seemed to resonate with a lot of people, both poor and not. I’d encourage you to read the comments – there’s a lot of good stuff there, like Naj’s note on how NSF GRF reviewers think about poverty in a student’s personal statement.
The feedback on the post made me really hopeful – this is a problem so many of us recognize and want to solve. I was especially encouraged that people are talking so much about solidarity with other low-wage earners as an essential part of the solution.
Lost Lake by 5u5 on Flickr
I didn’t know I could be outside without being in pain.
Light is not a migraineur’s friend. Migraine attacks make just about everyone sensitive to light. Many people with migraine have attacks that are triggered by different kinds of light, like bright sunlight or flickering fluorescent lights.
I have chronic migraine and find anything brighter than a dim lamp annoying at the best of times and excruciating at the worst. Sunglasses help, but not much. Stepping outside even on a cloudy day was uncomfortable for me no matter how well I felt.
Not a cure, but a balm.
Last year I bought a pair of TheraSpecs, specifically the sexy things to the left. TheraSpecs filter out certain wavelengths of light that seem particularly bothersome to migraineurs. And they work: since getting mine, I’ve been able to go outside without pain.
In the middle of an attack when anything above pure darkness is uncomfortable, they don’t stop the light-induced pain. But on days when I’m not in the middle of a bad attack, TheraSpecs make it so that I can go outside without worrying that the light is going to make me sick. When I am outside during an attack, they are a soothing balm to my eyes and head.
I got the outdoor version of TheraSpecs that fit over my prescription eyeglasses. They also really help with indoor lighting and computer screens, but are too dim to use indoors unless absolutely necessary. When I can afford it, I’m planning to get an eye exam to find out my current prescription and get new TheraSpecs lenses in my old glasses frames – one for indoors and one for outdoors.
In the meantime, I’ve found f.lux helpful on my computer and Twilight helps on my phone with the screen color and brightness.
TheraSpecs make it easier for me to be in the world, but they also make the world a more beautiful place to be in. The world really is nicer through rose-coloured glasses.
J. P. Morgan had started before the war, as the son of a banker who began selling stocks for the railroads for good commissions. During the Civil War he bought five thousand rifles for $3.50 each from an army arsenal, and sold them to a general in the field for $22 each. The rifles were defective and would shoot off the thumbs of the soldiers using them. A congressional committee noted this in the small print of an obscure report, but a federal judge upheld the deal as the fulfilment of a valid legal contract.
1861. From Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States
Stuff worth reading
The Best Thing a Loved One Has Done For Me Since I Got Sick
Surprise sobbing
Intel announces that every processor released in 2014 will be conflict mineral free
“In my high school yearbook there is a note from a girl who wrote, “I like you even though you are…”
Perhaps it is so hard to find good female characters because it is both so easy and unacceptable for women to be unlike-able
Scientists Find 7,300-Mile Mercury Contamination ‘Bullseye’ Around C…
Canada is being so stupid.
The Post-Academic’s Guide to Academic Professionalism.
Some words to live by if you’re brave
How the Rumors of Facebook’s Death Became Greatly Exaggerated
In Newark, New Jersey, a rally of several thousand demanded the city give work to the unemployed. And in New York, fifteen thousand people met at Tompkins Square in downtown Manhattan. From there they marched to Wall Street and paraded around the Stock Exchange shouting: “We want work!”
1857. From Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States