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cont[rump]inuing [mag]attacks on reproductive rights

Posted in Kids with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 26, 2025 by xi'an

[From the Center for Reproductive Rights:]

Cancelling the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which was requiring hospitals to provide life-saving abortion care

Blocking funding from Title X, a federal program dedicated to providing family planning and preventive reproductive health care services

Supporting the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 21)

Removing information on reproductive health and rights from government websites, like ReproductiveRights.gov

Abstaining from enforcing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, that protects reproductive health care patients and providers from violence and harassment, by ordering prosecutors to ignore violations, and pardoning individuals convicted of violating the Act

Joining a global anti-abortion pact, along with Uganda, Saudi Arabia and Belarus

Reinstating the global gag rule, denying aid to overseas health centres that provide or support abortion services and counselling

Joining a case against Planned Parenthood

Cutting funding to the United Nations Population Fund

Overturning the previous regulation that prohibited states from defunding abortion facilities as part of their family planning programs

Enforcing a separate payment requirement for abortion coverage in Obamacare

Stopping federal funding of fætal tissue research

Prioritising healthcare entities and individuals’ conscience rights

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a journal of the chaos and hail year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2025 by xi'an

 Read Ponce Pilate, a 1961 (!) short novel by the French writer Roger Caillois, that got (very positively) reviewed by Le Monde at the time. This is an uchrony that follows Pontius Pilate’s train (chariot?!) of thoughts as he considers the request by the Sanhedrin to crucify Jesus. Thanks to the book being mentioned with a morning press survey on France Inter, I went through this alternative history where Pilate dismiss the request and let Jesus free, who then dies of old age, with obvious consequences on the long-term future of Christian sects. The style is very pleasant and the revamping of Pilate as a weak stoic philosopher who eventually shows some (heavy) mettle most enjoyable. The reflection is mostly anachronic in the humanism, religious scepticism, and rationality of the character. There is also very little historical support for this vision of the man (whose end is unknown), but I did enjoy this celebration of free will and the refusal to commit a crime for the “greater good”.  Some passages reminded me of Jorge Luis Borgès, whose Three Versions of Judas, published in 1944, presumably inspired Caillois, who also wrote a book on him.  Maybe the essay was the final shove that made me give up on  Stormlight Archives, by Brandon Sanderson, midway of the 1264 pages of Oathbringer, after I realised the trilogy was in fact a pentalogy! But also because finding myself more and more perturbed by a form of glorification of mass murder in the name of the “greater good”…

Made more “basic” salads with the growing offer from the local market. As well as stir fries of green peas while they last. And planted tomatoes and peppers, just before an hail storm tores through Paris (as shown by the huge volume of green leaves on the bike paths the next day). Fortunately, the storm skipped town and garden. Further dangers may still come to fruition before the plantations deliver, though. Same worry for the 20m² of buckwheat that have started to grow. (Just like last year, when they did not survive my fortnight in Venezia.)

Watched a silly movie around the Shinkansen,  The Bullet Train Explosion, on a ride from Shin-Aomori to Tokyo, with a bomb threat that must be handled before arrival. Unrelentingly implausible, with the only appeal being the reproduction of the (antiquated?) General Control Center room. And the equally antiquated (but Tuftesque) timetables.

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a journal of the perpetual chaos year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2025 by xi'an

 Reading  Stormlight Archives, by (Mistborn author)  Brandon Sanderson, now (only) halfway, despite finishing the first two books, The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance! with 1264 pages of Oathbringer to go. The second volume is the best so far, except for the final pages that (alas!) announce a very different perspective for the next book. Keeping up with the Wheel of Time tradition (!), the storyline gets much longer and fragmented than necessary with second, third, and fourth level characters that are mostly proxy for infodumps. And repeated descriptions of banquets and meals. The devising of the local universe is interesting in its geography and climatology (with some aspects reminding me of Damasio’s Horde du Contrevent), while the cosmogony is (overly?) complex, but the overgrown role of a very few characters (another common feature in the fantasy literature) is annoying.

Collected the last chrosnes (Chinese artichokes) from my garden and panned them straight away, cleaning the spot for potatoes and tomatoes (and another attempt at growing chili peppers). Kept making roasted almond (before tariffs hit!, as they are already getting harder to find), cashew,  peanut, and black sesame butters, more whey buckwheat and chickpea galettes (with a new twist to produce thinner crêpes, if not yet dosas), finding by sheer coïncidence that they qualify as Auvergne (Central France) bourriols!, and non-stop radish salads (picado de rabano) from a recipe I brought back from New York. Did not have much of a culinary experience while visiting Avignon for a weekend, even though the main reason was to recover our 2000 Twingo that our daughter had used during her 18m internship in Marseilles’ hospitals, since she is heading back to the French West Indies for the next internship. Exploring the papal city and especially the papal palace (for the first time) was most pleasant, since they remain unscathed by wars and revolutions since their construction (besides the historical upgrades and downgrades along the centuries). The drive back to Paris in this 25yo car was smooth enough, except for the crash that happened just ahead of us,  due to a recklessly fast and tailgating car that ended up hitting another car. Everyone ended up safe, fortunately.

Watched the third season of The Wheel of Time, with some highs (in the Aiel waste and The Three Rivers) and many lows, like the demise of characters who had remained alive and central in the books. The role of the Forsaken is quite reduced when compared with these books. And the costumes are often ridiculous (witness Elaida’s dress!).

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the new PhD timeline

Posted in Books, Kids, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2025 by xi'an

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and it only gets worse [the return]

Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2025 by xi'an

“The EU has been very tough over the years and was formed to really do damage to the United States in trade through a little bit of a monopoly situation to create a unified force against the United States.” DJ Trump

“We need to get better at treating [deportation] like a business, like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings.” ICE Director Todd Lyons

“The EU make [sic] it so difficult, the standards and the tests as they drop a bowling ball on the top of your car from 20 feet up in the air and if there’s a little dent, they say no, I’m sorry, your car doesn’t qualify.”DJ Trump

“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture” JD Vance

“I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass.” DJ Trump

“The implications of the [Trump] government’s position [are] that not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal. History is no stranger to such lawless regimes, but this nation’s system of laws is designed to prevent, not enable, their rise.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor

“I think [the Russian missile bombing of Sumy] was terrible and I was told [the Russian attackers] made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing. This war would never have started if I were president. That war is a shame.” DJ Trump

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