What’s your “rabbit hole?”
Commentary by Chitown Kev
This week I happen to be working double-shifts in my “day job” as well as a couple of other projects added to my regular duties here at Daily Kos.
So I’ll make this quick.
I refuse to spend all of my time worrying about what the tacky shoe salesman, Musk-y, and everyone else in this criminal administration are doing.
I know that it’s my job but...just...no. In fact, any time that a discussion with, say, a family member shifts to a discussion of the news or my Trump-voting relatives, I have a limitation as to how much I am willing to say and listen.
Plus...I really think that it’s of paramount importance to protect myself from the high volume of misinformation and disinformation that’s out there.
Although I do take walks and get outside use to breathe, it has been a little chilly here in The Windy City.
One of the special projects that I did want to undertake was to do a survey of the so-called “manosphere” mostly because in the past I haven’t been unwelcomed in those spaces although that’s only because my entry way into those spaces has been my knowledge of statistics in various sports.
A little of the stuff in the “manosphere” rings true but I find most of it to be toxic as hell. Then I got into a space where there were discussions and readings of the modern iterations of stoicism.
Now...I majored in classics and minored in philosophy; in fact, I began my own study of Stoicism back in the late 1990’s. I didn’t remember that much about it, actually, but when I studied it in the late 90’s, I studied some of the modern-day scholars that were already writing about it plus I studied the ancient texts of Stoicism and other schools of (mostly) Hellenistic philosophy of course. So I was able to tell the difference between the real deal and bullsh*t and points in between.
And now...I find myself right back where I started in the late 1990’s, reading philosophy and literature and preparing to take classes in the subject over the summer...and I am finding myself reading texts that range from Plato to modern philosophers like Lewis Gordon (not all of what I read makes it to my Friday morning WAYR lists). I also find myself watching and listening to a lot of related YouTube stuff
I find myself writing in my journals every day. I don't necessarily like to engage in politics every day (as one could tell from the APR’s that I’ve been doing lately). But I do want a personal and complete record of these times that I live in.
The only other thing that I want to do for this summer is to get to know Chicago...I mean, I’ve been all over the city and lived all over the city but I don’t feel as if I know it. Hopefully, that will change this summer.
Finally, I write here at Daily Kos and I’m reading all of this stuff for the same reasons that my closest living relative had for enjoying the job that they retired from: “ultimately, I’m a nosy b*tch.”
Look, I’m nothing to setup be horrified by all of everything that happens daily with the tacky shoe salesman and and do nothing else and neither are you.
So I end this essay with a question.
What is your “rabbit hole?” Where do you go and what do you do (as approximate as you’re willing to share) to get way from it all?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last year, over half a million U.S. bankruptcies were filed.
While entering bankruptcy can be painful and leave a financial scar, it’s often a necessary last resort for those trapped in a cycle of debt. Studies have shown that a successful bankruptcy — when a court wipes away a portion of outstanding debt — improves not only the lifetime earnings of bankruptcy filers, but the lifetime earnings of their children as well.
But while roughly 1 in 10 Americans file for bankruptcy at some point in their life, nonwhite bankruptcy filers face higher odds of actually receiving any benefit from the process, a study found.
A recent working paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research found that minority filers are roughly 13 percentage points more likely to have their bankruptcy cases dismissed without debt relief in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection is typically designed for debtors hoping to retain significant assets, like a home or car. Last year, 200,000 households filed for Chapter 13.
“We found not only are minorities much more likely to have their bankruptcy cases dismissed without debt relief, we found that the race of the legal officials that they interact with in the bankruptcy process can be predictive of success in their bankruptcy case,” said Sasha Indarte, a study co-author and an assistant professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are being relentlessly attacked and dismantled, one group is taking a stand—not with protests, but with purpose.
The Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) is doing what real leadership requires: creating solutions. Their response to the anti-DEI backlash—ensuring that Black people who love aviation feel comfortable and confident by launching a flight school.
Located just outside Memphis, Tennessee, the Luke Weathers Flight Academy (LWFA), founded by OBAP, has emerged as a critical launchpad for Black aviators. Offering comprehensive aerospace training ranging from FAR 141 and 61 flight programs to jet transition, UAV pilot certifications, maintenance, and air traffic control academies, the school is not just teaching students how to fly planes—it’s preparing them to soar in an industry desperate for new talent.
According to the FAA, while the aviation industry is facing a nationwide pilot shortage, only 4.6% of professional pilots are Black. That disparity doesn’t reflect a lack of talent, it reflects a system that has historically lacked access. CNN reports that since opening its doors six years ago, the LWFA has helped students earn over 170 pilot certifications. Today, 63 students are enrolled—each one defying the odds in a workforce that’s still overwhelmingly white and male.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, four writers wrapped in traditional white shawls sit in silent concentration, hunched over goat skin parchments, eyes straining in the dim natural light. Homemade bamboo pens in hand, ink pots by their sides, they are painstakingly writing out sacred texts in the religious language of Ge’ez – continuing an ancient manuscript writing tradition that has been practised in the Ethiopian highlands for millennia.
Occasionally, an editor comes over to discuss corrections. In an adjoining room, a team of artists paint colourful scenes of angels and saints.
Elsewhere, craftspeople bind pages and hammer metal frames to decorate the manuscripts once they are finished, which will take months and in some cases years. Eventually, the texts will be shipped to churches and monasteries dotted across Ethiopia.
“We are trying to preserve the ancient ways,” says Ewantu Kassau, a 43-year-old priest who has been handwriting manuscripts since he was a teenager. “This is our heritage, our traditions.”
These traditions stretch back to the Axumite empire, a sea-faring state founded in the first century with deep links to Arabia and the Greek-speaking Levant that converted to Christianity in the fourth century.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
