Grandiloquent Word of the Day

Jun. 14th, 2025 07:42 pm
cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue

Grandiloquent Word of the Day https://www.facebook.com/GrandiloquentWords?__cft__[0]=AZX8S0GF5tayhhpeRWWSuLF7hVq0Wk-WITHY8Iyg89rX8WAm-oh5ggjZepfbEIUR2wo5XxiSANwKd1Nw1rwrb4OaMzpHUzZ_mIE3l9EUfJbWwNTq5UVV7nZ1exZNfHZnbSw-xrm09aTyZnP1xkoB71ibUcls2tgirB-gGjR5LnlIkcer6Pq51IZuw4vB_hqPL--wah1OsskhodJQyizlDPPq0Q-3SSsN6B-m5x0ehbR0soDAAZZcBp9izKWHOMrIRrk&__tn__=-UC*F (On BlueSky, FB, and other platforms) Zabernism [ZAB-ur-niz-im] (n.) - Unjustified or unwarranted use of military authority; military jackbootery; abusive bullying.

From the German name for Saverne, a town in Alsace. Originated from an incident in 1912 involving an overzealous soldier who killed a cobbler for smiling at him.

Used in a sentence: “The fascist leader’s deployment of soldiers against the very citizens it was meant to protect will always be remembered as vainglorious zabernism.”

[image: image.png]

The 3.5% figure isn't automatic

Jun. 14th, 2025 03:34 pm
cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue
All of that 3.5% have to keep active/mobilize/write/phone etc.

"The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world
BBC, 2019

Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.

In 1986, millions of Filipinos took to the streets of Manila in peaceful protest and prayer in the People Power movement. The Marcos regime folded on the fourth day.

In 2003, the people of Georgia ousted Eduard Shevardnadze through the bloodless Rose Revolution, in which protestors stormed the parliament building holding the flowers in their hands. While in 2019, the presidents of Sudan and Algeria both announced they would step aside after decades in office, thanks to peaceful campaigns of resistance.

In each case, civil resistance by ordinary members of the public trumped the political elite to achieve radical change.

There are, of course, many ethical reasons to use nonviolent strategies. But compelling research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, confirms that civil disobedience is not only the moral choice; it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics – by a long way. Read more... )

No Kings protest in my small town

Jun. 14th, 2025 01:10 pm
cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue

The word from organizers seems to be that we had 350 people in a town of 10,000. Photo of my sign and "No Kings" royalty outfit. [image: image.png]

cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue
... assuming you are not pleased with what Mr. Trump has been doing.

If you want to attend No Kings, but are concerned about violence at protests:
1: even in LA, the police say that the violence is
A: from known yahoos that show up all the time, not sincere protestors and
B: primarily happens at night
2: is less likely at smaller gatherings.

Look here for your local gathering: https://www.nokings.org/#map

People who voted for him:
He promised one thing and is doing another, such as promising to remove criminal immigrants, but instead is having his people arrest law-abiding immigrants following the proper procedures at courts and hearings. He's letting the criminals and gang members just do their thing. That's nobody's idea of justice.

People who didn't vote for him:
This is not the post to argue about people who voted for him and regret it.
cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue

Dear Title and Name,

I'm sure you are doing what you can about ICE's actions. But that will take a while. Can you also push for them to act like professionals and wear uniforms, ID, and no masks?

There's no way for their detainees to know this isn't some kind of private lawlessness. There have already been news reports of generic criminals saying they are ICE, in order to tie people up and rob their businesses.

Garden today

Jun. 7th, 2025 09:43 pm
cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue

Rainy day here, but I did a bunch of seedling planting before it got too wet, then did a lot of training/tying branches for roses, wisteria, forsythia (ie, forCynthia) and grapes.

Should enlarge a LOT, if you want to see the panels better; 2048 px sq. 20 plants blooming (or fruiting) in the garden today, in the rain.

Of particular note:

Top two pics are blackcurrants and gooseberries. Yellow rose on right will go on arch over the chain link fence gate -- only another foot to go to reach the top of the 6' fence. Standard rose (rose on a stick, for you non-gardeners) on the bottom row is a wild sprout from a rosebush at the previous house, which I cut off and rooted. It's almost 3' tall.

Lower L corner is malva sylvestris -- ongoing flowers all summer, easy and dramatic. The tree behind the fish is a peach.

I generally don't photograph plants I've bought this year; I don't feel like they are truly "mine" until I've managed to not kill them for a year. Seedlings I started from seed, are entirely mine; the baby lupines on the left edge, for example.

[image: image.png]

cvirtue: CV in front of museum (Default)
[personal profile] cvirtue

O great.
Report covers Texas and California, but I would expect a wide band of warmer-weather states are also affected.

the Resurgence of Flea-Borne Typhus in Texas in the 21st Century: Part 1: The Bacteria, the Cat Flea, Urbanization, and Climate Change

The report doesn't seem to break out the three types of typhus.

"about one quarter of patients suffer respiratory, neurologic, renal, hepatic, cardiac, ocular, or other complications"

"transmission is closely associated with human behavior, domestic pets, stray/feral dogs and cats, and urban wildlife"

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/14/2/154

Typhus info: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/typhus

Chart from report: [image: image.png]

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