weapons of massdistraction

Way ahead of you, guys. I’ve been screaming inside my heart for YEARS.

TOKYO—At the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park recently, the chief executive and his corporate boss took a ride on the park’s No. 1 attraction, the Fujiyama roller coaster, and plunged 230 feet without so much as a peep.

A video showed the two executives, both clad in masks, sternly riding the coaster in complete silence. It ended with a message: “Please scream inside your heart.“

I started drafting this post last week but have been feeling especially foggy. For years, I’ve been beating myself up over my productivity. Which is lousy, and ingrained capitalism at play. But it’s also counterproductive. Productivity is a wave (twitter thread). And the topic of ultradian rhythms is fascinating.

Five items of note:

• Edward Colston statue replaced by sculpture of Black Lives Matter protester Jen Reid
• The Freedom House Ambulance Service episode from 99% Invisible moved me to tears, had me muttering under my breath, and swearing out loud. Another instance of American systemic racism in full effect, erasing a huge societal contribution by African-Americans who were this nation’s first paramedics. I had, unsurprisingly, never heard this history before. But it made me think of my Dad. He was a rookie cop in St. Paul in 1962 and was often the first responder to many grisly accidents and crime scenes before there were emergency medical services. Listen to this episode.
• In the same vein, Hidden Herstory: The Leesburg Stockade Girls
  

  You may ask, “Who were the Leesburg Stockade Girls?” In July of 1963 in Americus, Georgia, fifteen girls were jailed for challenging segregation laws. Ages 12 to 15, these girls had marched from Friendship Baptist Church to the Martin Theater on Forsyth Street. Instead of forming a line to enter from the back alley as was customary, the marchers attempted to purchase tickets at the front entrance. Law enforcement soon arrived and viciously attacked and arrested the girls. Never formally charged, they were jailed in squalid conditions for forty-five days in the Leesburg Stockade, a Civil War era structure situated in the back woods of Leesburg, Georgia. Only twenty miles away, parents had no knowledge of where authorities were holding their children. Nor were parents aware of their inhumane treatment.

• A reprieve for international students:
  

  The U.S. backed down from a high-profile confrontation with Harvard and MIT over visas for foreign students who take online-only classes, ending a tense standoff that could have sent thousands of students back to their home countries and left colleges scrambling to plan for the fall.

• Last weekend my son and I listened to the Imaginary Worlds podcast episode all about Comic Con, Once and Future Comic Con. It feels strange that San Diego Comic Con will be virtual this year but that might be the new normal.

Today I’m screaming inside my heart over my tax bill. This may be the first time I owe the IRS. Usually, I get money back after filing my taxes. But I knew this was coming. I made some probably ill-advised financial decisions in order to buy our condo last year. But hey, we have a permanent home base in the perfect location. Though it will be years before we’ll be able to enjoy nearby restaurants and movie theaters, because of Americans unwillingness to wear a damned mask. Even though we could get the virus under control in a month or two if everyone would just wear a mask.