Status Update

I feel like I’ve gotten my task list under control, and words of flowing more freely from my fingertips once again. I mean, there’s always still more to do and to write than I ever possibly could, but at least I no longer feel crushed by the weight of it all. But it’s only a matter of time until I get stuck on something, fall behind, and this whole cycle starts over again.

Browsing

I spent more time writing than reading this week, but I do have a must read for you: Willie Osterweil’s “In Defense of Looting.” Whether you agree or disagree with Osterweil, I think you’ll find quite a bit to think about. Here’s a taste:

The mystifying ideological claim that looting is violent and non-political is one that has been carefully produced by the ruling class because it is precisely the violent maintenance of property which is both the basis and end of their power. Looting is extremely dangerous to the rich (and most white people) because it reveals, with an immediacy that has to be moralized away, that the idea of private property is just that: an idea, a tenuous and contingent structure of consent, backed up by the lethal force of the state. When rioters take territory and loot, they are revealing precisely how, in a space without cops, property relations can be destroyed and things can be had for free.

Elsewhere:

• The Guns of Ferguson: When Tyranny Really Comes into Town, the NRA Goes into Hiding
• Why Tom A. Peter decided war reporting was no longer worth the risk, which is depressing as hell.
• If we’re all so concerned about our privacy on social media, why don’t we just quit Facebook? Chris Hoofnagle explains why.
• Sava takes private TinyLetter cliques to task.

Meanwhile, as we fight amongst ourselves the White Walkers are coming Greenland is melting (more info).

Watching

• I finally saw Upstream Color, the second film by Primer director Shane Carruth, which came out last year but I didn’t find out about until recently. I can’t say that I liked it, but I still found it worth watching. It’s on Netflix streaming if you want to watch it too.
• Orphan Black season 2

Reading

Relaxing Into Your Being by Bruce Frantzis.