Watching Ken Burns series on National Parks. Our voices need to be heard.

In trying to formulate my own thoughts about the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, I kept asking myself this question: "How do you grieve the loss of an icon?" And here are some of my musings.


How do you grieve the loss of an icon?
Our collective grief is palpable.

How do we mourn when fear besets our collective being?
Our fears of one another or what will become of our institutionalized democratic principles prevent civil discourse and collective healing.

How do we move forward when we feel such despair?
Our hopelessness for a bright, fair and safe future permeates our everyday existence, tearing us down and further apart from one another.

How do you grieve the loss of an icon?
I’ll tell you how. You carry on her torch. You carry on her mission. You carry on her fight. You never, ever give up, even if it feels like we are living in the darkest times of our lives.

The postal service was reportedly going to distribute 560 million reusable face masks across the U.S. before White House officials expressed concern that the move would cause “panic.”

The United States Postal Service drafted an ambitious proposal in April to send a pack of five face masks to every residential address in the U.S. before top White House officials killed the idea, according to an analysis by the Washington Post of documents acquired by the watchdog organization American Oversight.

American Oversight, which obtained over 9,000 pages related to the USPS via the Freedom of Information Act, released the documents in late August. One of the records, entitled “U.S. Postal Service to Deliver Face Coverings to Every American Household,” is a draft of a press release indicating that USPS planned to “distribute 560 million reusable cotton face masks on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to every residential delivery point in America, beginning in areas which HHS has identified as experiencing high transmission rates of COVID-19 and to workers providing essential services throughout the nation during this pandemic.”

--snip--

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/usps-plan-5-face-masks-to-every-american-white-house_n_5f6389cbc5b6ba9eb6eb1214

As President Donald Trump pushed ahead with his first indoor campaign rally in months in Henderson, Nevada, on Sunday night, the state’s Gov. Steve Sisolak condemned him for selfishly endangering lives and hosting an event deemed high risk by his own government.

Gatherings of more than 50 people have not been permitted in Nevada since May, a guideline that was based on White House recommendations. Sisolak denounced Trump’s actions in an 11-part Twitter thread.


https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5f5edabac5b62874bc1eea28

He’s a fecking criminal...

(CNN)President Donald Trump is continuing to wage battle against interpretations of history which he claims are un-American.

In a Sunday morning tweet, the President said the US Department of Education would investigate whether California schools are using the New York Times' "1619 Project" in public school curriculum. The Pulitzer-Prize winning collection reframes American history around the date of August 1619, when the first slave ship arrived on America's shores.
"Department of Education is looking at this. If so, they will not be funded!" he wrote on Twitter, citing a message from an unverified account saying it was being taught in schools there.
The message came after the President on Friday night banned federal agencies from conducting racial sensitivity training related to "white privilege" and "critical race theory."

-snip-

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/06/politics/trump-education-department-1619-project/index.html

This may have already been posted. Yes, it's AGT semifinals, but no -- it's way more than that. Honestly. Give a listen. You'll be glad you did.

With “America’s Got Talent” just three weeks away from crowning a winner, Stockton spoken-word poet Brandon Leake has advanced to the semifinals after Tuesday’s incredible performance and promises his next piece will be “far better.”

Leake, judge Howie Mandel’s Golden Buzzer winner, gave a “powerful” spoken-word performance about his Black mother’s fear of him becoming “America’s next most popular hashtag” every time he leaves home amid protests over police brutality and racism.

“I’ve never been more moved in my life on this show by any other act,” Mandel said after Tuesday night’s performance. “We need you on this show. We need you in this world. … You matter.”

snip...

https://www.recordnet.com/story/entertainment/2020/09/02/you-matter-stocktons-brandon-leake-advances-semifinals-after-wowing-americas-got-talent-judges/5700056002/