What’s going on in Texas

There are all manner of political shenanigans going on in Texas as Republicans try to legislate even more restrictive voting practices. Most Democratic members of the state legislature left the state to prevent a quorum and the governor Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest them if they return. Yes, this is what democracy has come to.

One reason that Texas has become such a focus is that Joe Biden narrowed the gap in that state even though he lost it to Trump. The margin was the smallest in 24 years. Republicans seem to fear that if Democrats start winning Texas, they will have a lock on the electoral college, and they are pulling out all the stops to prevent that outcome.
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The enduring appeal of the genteel murder mystery

Long time readers of this blog know of my partiality to the detective story, especially of the British variety made famous by Agatha Christie and a host of other writers. No one would claim that they represent serious literature. They are utterly formulaic and do not aspire to great literary heights. They are the book equivalent of comfort food, where the pleasure comes from the familiarity, where you know what to expect and always get it. We readers know all the faults of the genre and love it anyway.

In a long essay, Breanna Rennix describes the formula.
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“It is what it is”

This phrase started becoming very popular a few years ago and I had a colleague who was particularly fond of using it.

(Pearls Before Swine)

I must admit that when I first heard people using it, I had the same reaction as Rat. It seemed like an irritating banal tautology. After all, if something is, how can it be anything else? But over time, I have come to terms with its use as a statement of resignation about a situation that cannot be changed. It can even be viewed positively as a call to accept the current situation and take action based on it, rather than simply whine about something that cannot be changed.

It is akin to “what will be will be”, though that carries a sense of fatalism, that we have no agency over the future.

Life after pandemic restrictions are lifted

In my part of the country, restrictions are being lifted and people who are vaccinated are now gathering together even indoors without masks. This has been a great relief to many people who found the enforced isolation during the past year very difficult to deal with. I am one of the people for whom being solitary was not a problem. I am not a misanthrope, exactly, in that I do not actively shun the company of others. But the things that I enjoy doing the most (reading, writing, thinking) are those that are best done in solitude. Hence I like to maintain large expanses of time alone between my socializing with others.

But sometimes I wonder whether my sympathies with Rat should be a cause for concern …

(Pearls Before Swine)