Social media messing. It’s interesting that some people get hooked on how many likes their Facebook posts garner. I find the fewest likes are often the most meaningful.
And generally, the incentive to gather a crowd strikes me as precisely why social media is so disappointing and conventional.
They want more, more, more.
Also I’ve overheard many convos lately with reference to “testing” and wondered if the subject was COVID testing or interminable academic exams.
And when people talk about “interrogating” things, do they mean “questioning” them? If so, I’m with them.
And what a curse it is to read everything with the thought of how can I re-use this in some way? Reminds me a bit of this piece we ran in NEJHE. Or am I some kind of Kierkegaard?
Also there’s so much well-intentioned recommendation of “journaling” these days. What does that mean for someone whose job is journal editor?
Will these new journalers start posting how many minutes it takes to read the piece?
And don’t get me started on LinkedIn. Recently read someone’s message ending: “Just as I was starting to give up, LinkedIn came to the rescue! I so appreciate this site! For those of you that are feeling the walls caving in, don’t give up. Stay vigilant. Things will change! Thank you LinkedIn!” It’s almost like a religion.
Hopeful election returns. Trump lost. The Sox are hiring back Alex Cora. The Rhode Island Working Families Party predicted several legislative victories, showing support for social spending and taxing the wealthy. Portland, Maine, voters approved referendum initiatives to increase the minimum wage, impose rent control and strengthen a ban on facial surveillance technology. All good, as they say. Which makes me nervous about what’s next.
The language. I recently edited an interesting piece on student attitudes toward learning during the pandemic. The terms “online,” “remote” and “virtual” were used almost interchangeably. My style book offered murky distinctions.
A population numbed to nuance couldn’t process the rhetoric of “defund the police.” As Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker clarified: “The call to ‘defund’ is best thought of as an urgently-needed debate over what we want policing to be, and whom we believe it should serve. That is a question that resonates far beyond the minutiae of budget talks.”
GoLocalProv betrays its mindset with headlines, for example in June 2020 … “VIDEO: Black Lives Matter Spray Painted on $21M Providence Pedestrian Bridge” … like Trumpists seeing dollar signs in midst of pandemic and social upheaval.
Why have the Republicans decided that “packing the Supreme Court” could be a new bogeyman. Why did Trump refer to Kamala Harris as a “monster” after the first VP debate?
Pandemic talk. Cianbro Corp., a one-time NEBHE Excellence Award winner, announced it is working with Guilford, Maine-based Puritan Medical Products to use CARES Act funding to develop a second factory in Pittsfield, Maine, that will increase the production of COVID-19 testing swabs by millions per month and create more than 200 jobs for Puritan. Cianbro is working with Puritan to rebuild the former San Antonio Shoe site for the facility. Reminiscent of all the craft breweries that had taken over New England machine shops pre-pandemic.
Meanwhile, Williston, Vt.-based MicroStrain Sensing Systems is using a 3D printer to supply the Vermont Mental Health Agency, Howard Center, with face shields, allowing clinicians to communicate more effectively with children returning to school and maintain coronavirus safety protocols.
Still, on balance, the pandemic tends to favor harm over good. A Maine paper reported “Employees at the New Balance factory in Skowhegan returned to work Thursday after an investigation determined a COVID-19 cleaning product was responsible for a chemical exposure last week that sent five people to the hospital.”
Saw notice of Charlie Baker, recently among America’s most popular governors. participating in a “fireside chat” with JPMorgan Chase President and CEO Jamie Dimon to discuss investments to expand economic opportunity for young people and to prepare them for jobs in the future. Is Dimon a good role model for opportunities for young people? See his grilling by Congresswoman Katie Porter.
Honors mentioned. It was nice to see Maine Gov. Janet Mills recognize Senior Advisor on Tribal Affairs Donna Loring for her service to the state before leaving her position to pursue personal opportunities. Loring recently served on the 12-member Penobscot Tribal Council and was the first woman director of security for Bowdoin College and the first woman police chief in the State of Maine as police chief for the Penobscot Nation. She hosted Wabanaki Windows on WERU Radio where she discussed current issues within Wabanaki Communities. And she wrote this interesting piece on native education for our New England Journal of Higher Education. Kudos also to another former NEBHE delegate Rachel Talbot Ross, the first Black woman elected to the Maine Legislature and now the first person of color to serve in a leadership position as assistant House majority leader.
