#Denis Mandel

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

[macrolit]

The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.

As voted on by 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

NYT Article.

*************

Q: How many of the 100 have you read? Q: Which ones did you love/hate? Q: What's missing?

Here's the full list.

100. Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson 99. How to Be Both, Ali Smith 98. Bel Canto, Ann Patchett 97. Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward 96. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman 95. Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel 94. On Beauty, Zadie Smith 93. Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel 92. The Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante 91. The Human Stain, Philip Roth 90. The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen 89. The Return, Hisham Matar 88. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis 87. Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters 86. Frederick Douglass, David W. Blight 85. Pastoralia, George Saunders 84. The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee 83. When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamin Labutat 82. Hurricane Season, Fernanda Melchor 81. Pulphead, John Jeremiah Sullivan 80. The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante 79. A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin 78. Septology, Jon Fosse 77. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones 76. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin 75. Exit West, Mohsin Hamid 74. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout 73. The Passage of Power, Robert Caro 72. Secondhand Time, Svetlana Alexievich 71. The Copenhagen Trilogy, Tove Ditlevsen 70. All Aunt Hagar's Children, Edward P. Jones 69. The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander 68. The Friend, Sigrid Nunez 67. Far From the Tree, Andrew Solomon 66. We the Animals, Justin Torres 65. The Plot Against America, Philip Roth 64. The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai 63. Veronica, Mary Gaitskill 62. 10:04, Ben Lerner 61. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver 60. Heavy, Kiese Laymon 59. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides 58. Stay True, Hua Hsu 57. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich 56. The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner 55. The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright 54. Tenth of December, George Saunders 53. Runaway, Alice Munro 52. Train Dreams, Denis Johnson 51. Life After Life, Kate Atkinson 50. Trust, Hernan Diaz 49. The Vegetarian, Han Kang 48. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi 47. A Mercy, Toni Morrison 46. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt 45. The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson 44. The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin 43. Postwar, Tony Judt 42. A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James 41. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan 40. H Is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald 39. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan 38. The Savage Detectives, Roberto Balano 37. The Years, Annie Ernaux 36. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates 35. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel 34. Citizen, Claudia Rankine 33. Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward 32. The Lines of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst 31. White Teeth, Zadie Smith 30. Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward 29. The Last Samurai, Helen DeWitt 28. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell 27. Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 26. Atonement, Ian McEwan 25. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc 24. The Overstory, Richard Powers 23. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, Alice Munro 22. Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo 21. Evicted, Matthew Desmond 20. Erasure, Percival Everett 19. Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe 18. Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders 17. The Sellout, Paul Beatty 16. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon 15. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee 14. Outline, Rachel Cusk 13. The Road, Cormac McCarthy 12. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion 11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz 10. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson 9. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro 8. Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald 7. The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead 6. 2666, Roberto Bolano 5. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen 4. The Known World, Edward P. Jones 3. Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel 2. The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson 1. My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante

[atopvisenyashill]

DAEMON BALLFYRE THEORY

it’s an unserious name but a serious theory!!!

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT QUENTYN BALL

If Daemon had ridden over Gwayne Corbray . . . if Fireball had not been slain on the eve of battle . .

-small mention from eustace in the sword sword

For his hot head and red hair. Ser Quentyn Ball was the master-at-arms at the Red Keep. He taught my father and my uncles how to fight. The Great Bastards too. King Aegon promised to raise him to the Kingsguard, so Fireball made his wife join the silent sisters, only by the time a place came open, King Aegon was dead and King Daeron named Ser Willam Wylde instead. My father says that it was Fireball as much as Bittersteel who convinced Daemon Blackfyre to claim the crown, and rescued him when Daeron sent the Kingsguard to arrest him. Later on, Fireball killed Lord Lefford at the gates of Lannisport and sent the Grey Lion running back to hide inside the Rock. At the crossing of the Mandel, he cut down the sons of Lady Penrose one by one. They say he spared the life of the youngest one as a kindness to his mother.

-egg says this in the mystery knight, bolded parts mine

Daemon was the name Daena gave to this child, for Prince Daemon had been the wonder and the terror of his age, and in later days that was seen as a warning of what the boy would become. Daemon Waters was his full name when he was born in 170 AC. At that time, Daena refused to name the father, but even then Aegon's involvement was suspected. Raised at the Red Keep, this handsome youth was given the instruction of the wisest maesters and the best masters-at-arms at court, including Ser Quentyn Ball, the fiery knight called Fireball. He loved nothing better than deeds of arms and excelled at them, and many saw in him a warrior who would one day be another Dragonknight.

The king sent the Kingsguard to arrest Daemon before he could take his plans for treason any further. Daemon was forewarned, and with the help of the famously hot-tempered knight Ser Quentyn Ball, called Fireball, he was able to escape the Red Keep safely. Daemon Blackfyre's allies used this attempted arrest as a cause for war, claiming that Daeron had acted against Daemon out of no more than baseless fear. Others still named him Daeron Falseborn, repeating the calumny that Aegon the Unworthy himself was said to have circulated in the later years of his reign: that he had been sired not by the king but by his brother, the Dragonknight.

-these are both from TWOIAF, again bolded and italicized parts mine.

WHAT STICKS OUT TO ME

Quentyn is married, a landless knight, and clearly older than Daena - it’s not just about a man “spoiling” a young, royal maiden but imo also that Quentyn specifically would get in a LOT of trouble because he is low class (see: Bonifer & Rhaella) and married to boot

He was master at arms, which gives him the ability to be in Daemon’s life without arousing suspicion from anyone, and also proximity to Daena to allow for an affair, even with her on the Maidenvault.

He’s name dropped SEVERAL times and he’s clearly very important to the founding of the Blackfyre Rebellion despite being both very lowborn and also dying in a kinda lame way (not even during the battle, just by a lone archer)

He wanted so badly to be on the kingsguard he forced his wife into the Silent Sisters, only to be denied by Daeron

He seemed to be on good terms with Aegon IV

Everyone seems real sure that the daddy was Aegon and we’re not given a reason why

Aegon doesn’t claim Daemon as his bastard until after (presumably) Daena has died

Also, Aegon doesn’t claim Daemon as his bastard until after all of the Great Bastards have been born

EYE think that Aegon IV was purposefully trying to have a bastard that could challenge Daeron, and that his affairs weren’t just like lust, boredom, wanting to disrespect Naerys & Aemon, etc. There is, imo, a shift in his mistresses being just, any woman he has access to - Falena, Bellegere, Cassella, and Meg - to woman who are highborn maidens from powerful families in Westeros - the Blackwoods, Brackens, and Lothstons. Even Serenei fits in here, given that Targ-looking wives from Lys & Volantis are not uncommon before or after Aegon IV. He’s even mentioned as still having a role in Aegor’s life by visiting him, potentially trying to groom him to rebel. But then everything with the Brackens blows up in his face (which is his own fault tbc), and Brynden is an emo fuck with red eyes, and Shiera is a girl. Then Daena dies…..and an opportunity opens up. Daemon looks like a Targaryen, no one knows who the father is, but for some reason everyone already suspects him (imo this is due to Rhaenyra’s boys looking like Harwin - like just a misogyny thing that SURELY Daemon couldn’t get his look from his mother alone, look at Rhaenyra’s kids vs Alicent’s), so publicly claiming Daena’s child at last gives him the perfect rival against Daeron.

ALSO, we have a few times in the story where someone joins the Kingsguard to be closer to a woman they want to protect - Aemon & Naerys, Jaime & Cersei, and Loras & Margaery. I think Lewyn & Elia likely fall under this as well. I think it makes sense Quentyn would see joining the Kingsguard as an opportunity to be closer to both Daena & Daemon especially given his low class status; skilled knights can rise to the Kingsguard even from lowborn or baseborn backgrounds. ALSO ALSO again, our only evidence of Aegon IV being the dad is, ya know, Aegon himself. Daena stayed silent her entire life on the subject. I like to think she had a reason for this - not that she protecting Aegon, but that she was protecting Quentyn.

[marnz]

2023 book post

I read 63 books this year (i do count short stories & novellas) and there were epic highs (everyone read the school for good mothers) and epic lows (y'all read this shit? for real?).

here are my top ten, in no particular order, followed by thoughts on the rest. it's so long lol okay let's get into it

top ten.

the school for good mothers by jessamine chan - a perfect commentary on the prison industrial complex and how poor, single, and mothers of color are treated set in a chilling near future. loved it. i read this book in june and think about it daily.

edinburgh by alexander chee - this book is a modern classic for good reason. gay tragedy lovers this book is for YOU. the prose is so beautiful, so dream like, that i couldn't stop reading. i read this book in one sitting, very nearly a year ago, and i was completely devastated by it.

in the woods by tana french - love this for: unreliable narrator who sucks but is compelling; prose about the woods and the 1980s mystery; cassie; a police procedure that starts off by being like 'crucially you must understand that the police lie.' i have a weakness for atmospheric books and this has that in spades.

homegoing by yaa gyasi - this book is SO good and the prose and character voices are excellent. it's extremely epic but somehow only 300 pages?!? each character only gets 1 chapter but gyasi does SO much with each chapter 😭 i read this in one day because i could not stop reading. i also read gyasi's other book, transcendent kingdom, which was also very good.

some desperate glory by emily tesh - this book is a mindfuck and is one of the few times i've seen [spoiler] done well. there are a lot of things this book talks about--imperialism; artificial intelligence; fascism; white supremacy and how it intersects with gender; queerness; eugenics. i posted about it early when i had only read like 49% and i was soooo wrong to do so. read this and just trust me.

x by davey davis - okay are you ready for this? X is queer/trans bdsm neo noir mystery set in a dystopian near future. it is dark, it is consuming, it is surprising, it is a book i turn over obsessively whenever i can't sleep. i need to reread and i only read it a few months ago.

baru cormorant series/the masquerade by seth dickinson - this is 3 books but let's count it as one book. much has been said about baru as a cringefail autistic marxist lesbian icon (affectionate) but what i really appreciate about these books, other than how fucking gay they are, is the specificity of the world building. i have a theory that modern readers are in search of detail (and cruelly denied by much of publishing rn). seth dickinson loves details. seth dickinson is going to take semi familiar narratives and tell them in a brand new way using details; math; hyper specific words. god i love it

poverty by america by matthew desmond - relatively short book, read it in a day. i also read desmond's first book, evicted, and it is also SO good but what's sexy about this book is that modern american society and esp. politicians frequently likes to be like 'oh no, poverty is so tragic but it can't be solved' and desmond is like 'watch me.' for people who enjoy reading andrea long chu take downs reviews and want concrete solutions for how to build a better world.

station eleven by emily st. john mandel - many people told me this was the best book they've ever read and i was like 'whatever. i'll get to it when i get to it.' DO NOT BE ME!! read this!! i wouldn't say this is a happy book but it was a beautiful book. i loved it. i cried for about 90 minutes afterwards. for art lovers, weird theatre kids, people unafraid of plague books, non linear timeline lovers, people who have been divorced.

piranesi by susanna clarke - okay i read this on my flight to frankfurt earlier this year and it totally bowled me over with how lovely it was and how emotional i got. just a beautiful, delicate, haunting, eerie book. for fans of mysteries, people who love oceans, gothic houses, people who earnestly believed magic was real as kids and hope it's real today, people who love academic drama they aren't involved in.

okay damn honorable mentions: in the dream house by carmen maria machado (SO good, maybe deserves my rec more than piranesi), normal people by sally rooney (mainly because it did make me insane), under the banner of heaven by jon krakauer (thorough, horrifying), honey & spice by bolu babalola (SO fun), sula by toni morrison (stunning!!), severance by ling ma (millennial alienation during a plague, amirite?), trust exercise by susan choi (who knows what really happened? you'll understand).

okay now the worst books i read this year, aka books i did not vibe with:

broken harbor & the trespasser by tana french; did not enjoy broken harbor due to the themes and did not enjoy the trespasser due to how cringefail the ending was. you can't depict ongoing harassment a woman of color is experiencing in her workplace, make her decide to leave after two years of this harassment, and then back track it in the last chapter? please. this is a problem tana french runs into a lot, but that is a different post

the witch elm by tana french; parts of this book were absolutely delicious. but a lot of it felt very tedious and in need of a stern editor. so many books these days need more thorough editing and the result is that a potentially amazing book is just like, okay. i understand the power fantasy that this book is designed to be, but i'm not the right audience for it (disabled). also, generally i need a character to root for.

amateur by thomas page mcbee; SO sorry thomas. i didn't vibe with this book mainly because i don't think i'm the target audience for it. i'm not cis and i'm not straight?? i also am not interested in narratives about trans men wanting to prove their masculinity by taking up a violent sport. i think this tension is addressed in the book but it wasn't addressed to my satisfaction. violence is often all the world gives to men as a source of power and thus serves as a solace for everything patriarchy takes from them, so i suppose i understand wanting to be able to get a piece of that...logically that makes sense. but also. why.

the late americans by brandon taylor; the thing is, i fucking love real life by brandon taylor and i enjoy brandon's criticism and read his substack (although i disagree with almost every aesthetic opinion he has). so possibly my expectations were too high, but i read this and i guess i was just...wanted to know what the point is. gay people suffering in the midwest? as a genre, it slaps. as a book, i feel frustrated. it felt loose, pointless, in great need of editing. brandon talks about this book by talking about the importance of moral fiction, and this book lacks moral urgency for many of its stories. i've read a lot of moral fiction and this isn't it? anyway I read this in July and looking back all I remember is Seamus' journey and the way brandon dragged workshopping.

the angel of the crows by katherine addison; look. if you're going to write sherlock wingfic, put it on ao3. if you're going to file off the serial numbers, please work harder so i can't tell what it originally was. and absolutely nix the author's note saying it was sherlock fanfic, because that makes me very unhappy! personally!

99% mine by sally thorne; classic second book syndrome. except the third one is also not very good. too bad!

touched out by amanda montei; okay obligatory disclaimer that i'm not a mother or parent but rather an adult who loves my friends' kids! this book really frustrated me and i think i would have enjoyed it considerably more if it was all cultural criticism instead of a memoir (other than the dworkin parts????). a memoir is an art form, a set narrative, but criticizing it feels weird because i am criticizing the author's life decisions as presented to me, in a flattened context, in a controlled narrative. if the memoir parts were instead part of a fictional book i would not hold back lol. this book is marketed as the most important work of feminist scholarship in the last 30 years and...it ain't. i also felt the focus was incredibly narrow. while montei does attempt to cite a broad range of theorists i just kept finding myself wondering, what about people from other cultures? what about disabled mothers? what about queer mothers or parents? what about this? WHERE'S YOUR RESEARCH? WHERE ARE YOUR INTERVIEWS? there is a specific kind of feminism where white women act like their specific experience is the pinnacle of all suffering and tbh it isn't. this book reminded me of that very strongly. like, if you're telling me you won't have an epidural because it was invented by a man then you are not a useful person to engage with, thanks.

books that would have been amazing if not for that one part

he who drowned the world by shelley parker chan - man i have mixed thoughts on this book. look away my beloved swbts mutuals. okay the epic highs (ouyang & zhu!! ma!!) were set off by baoxiang lmao. i'm mainly interested in queer masculinity and femininity and a femme straight guy is like. well, good for him, but i don't really care? bring me back to my loveds zhu and ouyang. but my main gripe...tbh i think baoxiang is a hugely unreliable narrator that protests about a lot of things too much. being straight for one thing; not having a thing for esen is another. AND MORE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE WITH THIS? like i honestly wish the implied incest thing, which was brought up at least twice, was more present. taking a step back, if you're like well i'm straight and i don't have a thing for my dead brother i helped kill but i absolutely will be seducing the spitting image of him while i fuck my way to the top of the throne? that should make me insane. possibly it would have in a book that didn't already have ouyang. who can tell. so i wish SPC had leaned into that a lot more, i wish baoxiang hadn't felt like such a plot instrument, i wish there was more Ma, i wish spoilery completely unbelievable storyline was better, etc.

in memorial by alice winn - damn, this book. it was so good but it fell apart at the end. i respect winn's decision to not have it be perfectly easy after living through the untold horrors of the trenches of wwi but the idea of two brits running away to brazil to live out a life of colonial bliss because being gay wasn't explicitly illegal in brazil at a time is like. what? i guess. anyway, it was good, i just have some notes.

romantic comedy by curtis sittenfeld - here's the thing, i love curtis sittenfeld and i knew going in that this is a book by the author that wrote rodham but man, this is a book by the author that wrote rodham. this is the most Online book i've ever read (derogatory) and it's very specific in its liberal i'm an Online author on twitter type of deal. the point of the book is that Not Tina Fey falls for Male Taylor Swift on Not Saturday Night Live and it was good, it was fun, i wasn't expecting [spoiler] ummm but it worked. i had a good time.

this is very long, sorry.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Wokal Distance

Published: Feb 16, 2023

Recently there was another dust up about what we mean when we talk about “woke.” This was sparked by a Television interview where Bethany Mandel, who I consider a friend, was interviewed about her new book and was asked by the host Briana Joy Gray to define woke. Unfortunately, Bethany had difficulty giving an on the spot definition of the term, and simply responded by saying the Woke was difficult to define.

Predictably, this lead to something of a pile on as a tweet of the moment went viral on twitter. In short, a large number of left leaning accounts proceeded to say words to the effect that when conservatives call things woke, all they are doing is dog-whistling various bigoted sentiments. In other words, “woke” is just a term that conservatives use as a slur.  Here are just a couple of examples:

This is all part of a strategy that is being employed by Critical Social Justice (AKA “woke”) activists in order to protect their ideology and worldview from criticism. As we will see, what they are doing is attempting to prevent us from giving their ideology a name or a label in order to protect it from criticism.

So I am going to explain how and why they do this, and what we can do about it. Let’s begin.

1.      Sketching the problem

No doubt readers of this substack have heard people who claim to fight for Social Justice say things like: "White privilege is a product of systemically racist social structures which center whiteness and marginalize people of color while reproducing white supremacy. This reinforces dominant power structures and a cultural hegemony that benefits cisgendered heterosexual white males at the expense of BIPOC, Latinx, and LGBTQS2+ folx."

We've all seen that jargon coming from people with similar views, politics, and ideas, all demanding sweeping social change from the left. They might be doing advocacy in different areas of society, and with respect to different topics, but the similarity of the language, the overlap of the concepts, and the fact that the arguments are always concerned with oppression, privilege, systemic power, diversity, equity, inclusion, inequality, ability status, sex, race, and gender indicate that here is clearly a coherent worldview at work here. However, every time we try give that worldview a name they say the name we pick is problematic, wrong, incorrect, bigoted, misleading or otherwise problematic.

Many names have been tried, but every time we try to name this ideology: woke, Critical Race Theory, Socialism, neo-marxism, cultural Marxism, Critical Social Justice, The successor ideology, and we are told none of this is appropriate or correct.

This inability to give the ideology in question a name prevents people from being able to talk about the project of social, cultural, and political change coming from the left. They want to agitate, advocate, and demand social change without acknowledging, much less defending, the worldview at the center of their project.

The result is that there is a large number of ideologically connected but formally unconnected social movements which all proceed from the same worldview while all denying that there is a single distinct worldview, mindset, or ideology at work. We have:

BLM

Defund the Police

Critical Race Theory

Queer theory (aka, gender ideology or radical gender theory)

Drag Queen Story Hour

Diversity Equity, and inclusion

And a host of other social and political movements, all of which use similar language, have similar policies, similar concerns, and which work together in “solidarity” with each other, all while claiming that there is no underlying common worldview which can be given a label.

They will tell you that they want to change society, change the world, and change the culture, but if you ask them to put a name to their ideology it always comes up empty. Sometimes they will say “oh, this is just kindness,” or “we call it fairness.” This is absurd. Most people do not think “society is constructed by systemic power which socializes people to accept the legitimacy of a system which reproduces white privilege at the expense of POC and which needs to be decolonized in order to make space for non-binary folx” when they are trying to talk about fairness.

So what exactly is going on here?

2.     The strategy at work.

So I would like to now explain what I think is going on using Zebras as an analogy. This will make sense I promise you.

Many animals have fur, feathers, or skin that blends in to their environment. This acts as camouflage so they can blend in to their environment and hide. This owl is a fine example:

Zebras, however, are different. They use camouflage, but they way they use it is entirely different. Zebra’s are covered in black and white stripes even though the environment they live in is mostly brown and green. If you see a zebra by itself, it's very easy to see.

It's like they have a neon sign over them saying "lions, please eat me." Look at this picture below, this Zebra does not blend into it’s background at all:

So how does Zebra Camouflage work? Well, its simple: Zebra camouflage works by making zebras blend with the herd so that lions can't focus on any one zebra and target it. In order for Lions to kill a zebra they need to be able to pick one Zebra, focus on it, and then go after it. If the lions are unable to pick a target then the Zebras are safe.

What Zebras Camouflage does is to make the Zebras blend into the heard. It makes them all blend in together with each other so that it becomes near impossible for the lions to select any one zebra to attacks. If lions can't pick a target to go after, then the Zebras are safe. And as you can see in the pictures below, when the Zebras are in a single herd it becomes nearly impossible to pick out any one of them:

Scientists discovered this as they studied Zebras and got confused about which individual zebra was which, and that happened because the zebras camouflage causes them to all blend into the herd.

So, they tried to fix this by tagging a zebra with red paint so they could recognize it from the others and keep track of it.

Guess what happened?

The Lions killed the tagged Zebra. A tagged zebra stands out from the herd so lions can tell it apart and focus the hunt on it. The Lions don't catch weak zebras, they catch the *IDENTIFIABLE* Zebras they can focus on. If a Zebra stand out from the herd, or gets separated from the herd it no longer blends in with the rest of the herd and it loses the benefit of it's camouflage, at which point the lions can focus on it, target it, and kill it.

This is a great analogy for the game the woke are playing.

Once a worldview is named and defined, it can then be pointed out, highlighted, and subjected to criticism. Once you can *IDENTIFY* a worldview or set of ideas you can focus on it. Naming an idea lets us separate it from the herd of other ideas and examine it up close. The woke don't want anyone to be able to give a name or label to their ideology because if that happens we can "tag" examples their ideology with a label when we see it. This allows us to highlight it, point it out, and examine it when we see it.

We label and name things to help us "tag" them, so we can point them out and focus on them, the woke are trying desperately to destroy all of our linguistic "tags." Woke activists do not want us to be able to single out their ideas and subject them to criticism. Woke ideas really can't withstand proper rational and logical analysis. The lions of truth: evidence, logic, rationality, etc, will eat the Zebras of Wokeness, Gender Ideology, Critical Race Theory, and Critical Social Justice for lunch. But only if the lions of reason can focus on and identify the Zebras of woke ideology.

This is what the woke want to avoid. The woke think our criticisms are not legitimate and merely an attempt by us to attack them so we can hold on to "power and privilege." For that reason the woke seek to insulate themselves from our "illegitimate" criticism.

So, to avoid getting eaten by the lions of reason the woke want to camouflage their ideology in a way that makes it impossible to it to be seen, pointed out, highlighted, or (in woke parlance) "made visible." They want hide their worldview by making it impossible to focus on and impossible to tag, label, or name. so they can say they are "just doing history" or "just discussing gender," and "blend in" as though wokeness fits right alongside reason, evidence, logic, and rationality.

We need to use labels to be able to point at, highlight, and otherwise tag woke concepts so that they can be seen and then held up and examined for criticism. Using labels like "woke," "CRT," AND "Critical Social Justice," lets us tag woke ideas so we can hold them up to the light and examine them. Labels help us point out wokeness to other people so they can see it too.

This is what the woke want to avoid.

What the woke want is to act like all the bits of woke activism we see are unconnected phenomena spontaneously springing fourth in the name of justice in an organic and decentralized way.  They want to act as though things like BLM, Defund the Police, “Diversity, equity, and Inclusion,” and Drag Queen Story Hour are diffuse and unconnected movements when in fact they are all connected by their adherence to an underlying worldview and ideology.

The formal name of this ideology is Critical Social Justice,1 or in common parlance, wokeness.

3.     What is the solution

Do not let them do this. Do not let them play games and use linguistic and rhetorical sleight of hand to hide their worldview. You do not need to give an exhaustive definition every time they invent a new term, or every time they present you with some new bit of jargon. All you need is a definition of wokeness that communicates its ideas in a clear way so people can examine it.

I would like to provide what I think is an accurate definition of wokeness that even a person who is “woke” would be willing to accept.

Woke: (sometimes called Critical Social Justice) is a type of social justice politics that claims systemic identity based discrimination such as racism, sexism, homophobia, white privilege, and other sorts of injustice are baked into the fabric of society. In short, society is oppressive. They believe this occurs through “systems of power” which were created for the benefit people who are white, straight, and male, at the expense of everyone else. This power operates through cultural hegemony (cultural dominance) and by socializing people into accepting the legitimacy of this oppressive system, and accepting their place in it. Wokeness claims these systems of power warp every element of western culture in a way that harms people, and for that reason all of society must be radically restructured.  Everything, including science, knowledge, truth, beauty, economics, education, sports, music, film, agriculture, justice and everything else on society are full of bigotries, biases and self-interest which are a product of the systems of power which were created by and for straight white males. On this view even such things as math, biology, physics, and chemistry must be radically rebuilt with a focus toward diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, anti-racism, and so fourth.

To give you something that is a little easier to memorize and pull out in conversation, Neil Shenvi has offered a definition of wokeness which fits into a single tweet:

Wilfred Reilly offers and even shorter definition that is excellent for use in everyday conversation:

With a proper definition of wokeness now in view we should now proceed to make sure that we carefully, accurately, and carefully label things as Critical Social Justice or “Woke” when they fit that definition. We should have absolutely no hesitation in doing so.

These woke activists have labelled everyone they disagree with as:

racist

bigot

sexist

white supremacist

nazi

fascist

transphobe

homophobe

ableist

misogynist

anti-black

They absolutely do not get to complain when we label them as “woke.”

Label fairly, use labels from their literature, and label accurately, do not hesitate to label those woke ideas and then subject those woke ideas to the bright light of rigorous criticism and analysis.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Wokal_distance

--

1 Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo, Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education, second edition. Teachers College press. 2017. P.19

==

An alternate approach is to ignore the definitions entirely.

I don't really care what name you want to call it when:

everything is seen through paranoid, invisible power dynamics and emotional abuse and manipulative lies are used to coerce people who have done nothing wrong;

or when the most fragile, most ideologically possessed can, and do, weaponize the worst, most intellectually dishonest reading of a statement or situation and insist you're a bigot if you don't accept it as true;

or when black kids are told that society is structured around "anti-blackness" and white kids are told that they are oppressors;

or when the liberal mainstay of colorblindness (reducing the social signifiance of skin color) is itself regarded as "racist", and the new morality declares the opposite is required;

or when equality and merit are treated as bigotry, and standards must be lowered;

or when racial segregation is rehabilitated as a virtue;

or when objective reality is denied, objectivity itself is bigoted, and truth becomes merely an opinion;

or when gay conversion therapy is being endorsed by supposed LGBT organizations;

or when parents transition their kids because they liked the wrong toys;

or when doctors and hospitals lie about the need for medical experiments on kids, or that they're doing them at all;

or when people keep pretending they don't know how babies are made;

or when organizations are consumed with ideological activism and become incapable of fulfilling their actual mission;

or when our knowledge-producing institutions are tearing themselves apart and dismantling our knowledge-making processes in order to restructure themselves instead for the production of religious piety as ideological convents;

or when words are redefined or eliminated entirely for the purpose of controlling thought and re-engineering society;

or when the most privileged, most entitled people in the world in the freest countries in the world are roleplaying as oppressed victims;

or when people in those countries voluntarily implement defacto blasphemy laws to suppress or punish wrongthink, and even arguing in favor of freedom of speech is recast as a "dogwhistle" for "hate";

or when it's somehow both the case that LiTeRaLLy nO oNe Is DoInG tHiS and you're a bigot for getting in their way.

I don't care what you call this.

It just has to end.

[skippyv20]

Did you see Deal Or No Deal Stylist Dina Cerchione's Instagram post? Dina is so well respected that she has worked on multiple big tv shows, including America's Got Talent, where she works again with Howie Mandel. Dina could have shared stories that would put Meghan in an even worse light, but instead took the high road & felt compelled to defend her work. I love the part where Dina wrote that DOND offered great opportunities to the gals such as "being on Oprah." 😆 Victim card denied, Megz.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[majormiles]

fic writer asks: 4 & 19

2023 year in review: fic writer asks! (Thanks!)

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

Well, in terms of what I wrote, Star Trek all the way down. It's on the brain, all the time!

But in terms of what inspired me, any and every book I read this year inspired me in some way, be that with ambition or spite. To name a few: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, Dune by Frank Herbert, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel...

But really, and I can't deny it, the one piece of media that inspired me the most this year, for my fanfic and non-fanfic writing, was actually another fanfic. Hallmark Moment (Here in the Morning Remix) by unveiled (which is a remix of a fic by BrighteyedJill). It's a 3k Star Trek fic about future!Joanna McCoy bumping into the Enterprise in the midst of time-travel shenanigans and everything I have written this year can be traced back to this. Everything🤣

19. Share your favorite opening line.

I'm quite proud of the opening line for spontaneously ignite, where I give Jim my problems instead of Bones - for once!

The message is from his mother, which is never a good sign.

I kind of popped-off with this fic, ngl. The opening lines says so much about Jim and Winona's relationship in so few words. I'll pat myself on the back for this one 🤣

[recentlyheardcom]

AGT Judge Pranked By St. Denis Medical Star David Alan Grier

During the final performances of America’s Got Talent, Howie Mandel enlisted the help of his friend David Alan Grier to play a prank on his fellow Judges that will surely go down in the AGT history books as one of the best.  How to Watch Watch America’s Got Talent Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock.  Grier is joining the NBC family by way of the upcoming new comedy St. Denis…

[rhetoricandlogic]

THE GLASS HOTEL by Emily St. John Mandel

RELEASE DATE: March 24, 2020

A financier's Ponzi scheme unravels to disastrous effect, revealing the unexpected connections among a cast of disparate characters.

How did Vincent Smith fall overboard from a container ship near the coast of Mauritania, fathoms away from her former life as Jonathan Alkaitis' pretend trophy wife? In this long-anticipated follow-up to Station Eleven (2014), Mandel uses Vincent's disappearance to pick through the wreckage of Alkaitis' fraudulent investment scheme, which ripples through hundreds of lives. There's Paul, Vincent's half brother, a composer and addict in recovery; Olivia, an octogenarian painter who invested her retirement savings in Alkaitis' funds; Leon, a former consultant for a shipping company; and a chorus of office workers who enabled Alkaitis and are terrified of facing the consequences. Slowly, Mandel reveals how her characters struggle to align their stations in life with their visions for what they could be. For Vincent, the promise of transformation comes when she's offered a stint with Alkaitis in "the kingdom of money." Here, the rules of reality are different and time expands, allowing her to pursue video art others find pointless. For Alkaitis, reality itself is too much to bear. In his jail cell, he is confronted by the ghosts of his victims and escapes into "the counterlife," a soothing alternate reality in which he avoided punishment. It's in these dreamy sections that Mandel's ideas about guilt and responsibility, wealth and comfort, the real and the imagined, begin to cohere. At its heart, this is a ghost story in which every boundary is blurred, from the moral to the physical. How far will Alkaitis go to deny responsibility for his actions? And how quickly will his wealth corrupt the ambitions of those in proximity to it? In luminous prose, Mandel shows how easy it is to become caught in a web of unintended consequences and how disastrous it can be when such fragile bonds shatter under pressure.

A strange, subtle, and haunting novel.

[chrancecriber]

Radio NET Bulgaria (December 02, 2022)

23:57 CHRISTOPHE GOZE - Norwegian Wood (2022 Remaster) 23:52 JAREZ - When I Look at You 23:47 BROOKE ALFORD, DAN BARASZU - Christmas Time Is Here (With Love and Strings) 23:43 ROB TARDIK - No Limits (feat. Vincent Ingala) 23:39 RHYTHM LOGIC - Tuesdays Love 23:34 WAKANA - Let's Get Together (feat. Peter Peet Ferencz) 23:31 BRANDON WILLIS - Its Always Been You 23:26 NICK COLIONNE - Still Connected 23:22 TONY CRADDOCK JR. - The Christmas Song 23:18 PATRICK YANDALL - Stay Tonite 23:13 VINCENT INGALA - Coast to Coast 23:09 DAVE KOZ - All The Love In The World 23:05 GREGG KARUKAS - London Underground 23:00 PETER WHITE - Glow 22:59 JES - Heaven (Orange Project Del Sol Interpretation) 22:55 RUSSELL SIMINS - Comfortable Place 22:50 THE SURA QUINTET - Onda De Bossa 22:47 SEAL - Ooh Baby Baby 22:42 DJ SHAH, NADJA NOOIJEN - Over & Over (Acoustic Mix) 22:39 DASH BERLIN, JONATHAN MENDELSOHN - Better Half Of Me (Acoustic Mix) 22:35 AMURAI - Love & Light (Downtempo Mix) 22:31 LE VITA, FAB - Apologize 22:27 LIVING ROOM - Teneriffe 07 22:24 SUSANA - A Million Memories (Acoustic Rework) 22:20 BENYA, PENNY NIXON - Serendipity (After Meridian & Dave Costa Remix) 22:17 SAAD AYUB, CRISTINA SOTO - Daylight (Chill Out Mix) 22:09 LAB OF MUSIC - Angel Vibes (Original Mix) 22:05 MANDEL TURNER - Come Into My Life 22:01 ARMIN VAN BUUREN, FIORA - Waiting For The Night (Zetandel Chill Out Mix) 21:56 30 SECONDS TO MARS - Bad Romance (Lady Gaga's Cover) 21:52 LATE NIGHT ALUMNI - This Is Why 21:46 YANNI - One Man's Dream (Ledovskiy Valeriy Remix) 21:40 DENIS SERGEEV, 4ONE - Merging Of Two Destiny 21:36 LEO ROJAS - Colors Of The Rainbow 21:31 LUIGI LUSINI - I'll Be Home (Original Mix) 21:26 SHAUN ESCOFFERY - Let it Go (4 Hero Mix featuring Jason Rebello) 21:20 JULIAN VINCENT, CATHY BURTON - Certainty (Andy Prinz Chillout Mix) 21:16 KEVIN SUNRAY - Stories Untold feat. Gaia Barbero (Acoustic Dubstep Mix) 21:12 VELVET DREAMER - Your Game My Love (Five Seasons Remix) 21:08 IDENLINE - At Sunset (Original Mix) 21:03 VIVIAN LACOSTE - Ibiza Magica 20:58 MIGUEL LARA - Oblivion 20:55 MODJO - Lady (Acoustic Version) 20:51 BLISS - Evening Sun 20:46 RHEINGOLD ENSEMBLE - Deja Bo 20:43 ANDREA SAENZ, ROBOTS MEMORY - Straightblocks (Unplugged Mix) 20:38 MARTINIQUE LE SOUFFLEUR - Sound of Panama 20:34 TYDI, TANIA ZYGAR - The Moment It Breaks (Original Mix) 20:31 MARIO BASANOV VIDIS, JAZZU - Give It A Try 20:24 THE THRILLSEEKERS - Dreaming of You (Tranquilo's Ambient Mix) 20:19 TENISHIA, KIRSTY HAWKSHAW - Falling (Original Mix) 20:15 ARNOLD T - Just The Way You Are 20:09 KITARO - Dance of Sarasvati 20:02 BOBINA, BETSIE LARKIN - You Belong To Me (El Gambrero Remix) 19:58 EMILIA DE PORET - Weightless (Chillout Mix) 19:53 BLANK & JONES, CORALIE CLEMENT - Days Go By (Cantoma Mix) 19:49 VINTAGE - Eva (Roman B & Vova Baggage Slow Mix) 19:44 DOMINIK POINTVOGL - Step Up (Original Mix) 19:41 CARDINAL ZEN - Warmth 19:36 DANITY KANE - Stay With Me (Van Immortal Remix) 19:31 BLANK & JONES - Risin' To The Top (Original Mix) 19:27 JOHN O'CALLAGHAN, AUDREY GALLAGHER - Big Sky (Acoustic Mix) 19:20 HALDO, GEORGIA CEE - Clouds 19:15 MARC PUIG, MARIA COLLADO - To Forget Me 19:11 MATT DAREY, ERICA DRISCOLL - Too Far (Zetandel Chill Mix) 19:07 MOTIF, LENA BELGART - Halo (Original Mix) 19:01 ANDY SOL & ECOLYTE - Ponse Passing (Original Mix) 18:57 JAZZAMOR - Hidden Treasure 18:52 PAUL ADAM - Backwards (Original Mix) 18:48 BRIAN - Drowning (Acoustic Version) 18:44 WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS - Psychasthenia 18:41 JAVAH, STACEY MCCLEAN - You And Me (Damien Chillout) 18:38 SYLVERING - Strangelove 18:33 VELVET DREAMER - Sky Is Falling (Mo'jardo Remix) 18:29 T.A.T.U - Show Me Love (Zetandel Chill Remix) 18:25 LONDON GRAMMAR - Non Believer (Groove Armada's Revival Mix) 18:21 DT8 PROJECT - Hold Me Till The End (Unplugged Mix Lounge Edit) 18:16 RUSLAN-SET, POWERMS, V.RAY - Aspiration (Vocal Mix) 18:11 CLAUDE CHAGALL - Sunset Buddha 18:05 LOUNGAHOLIC - Careless Whisper 18:00 ANDAIN - Beautiful Things (Andain Piano Version) 17:56 JEANETTE HARRIS - Saxy 17:52 JOHANNES HUPPERTZ - Freeee 17:48 LIULA - Sweet Dreams 17:44 SUPER8 & TAB, JAN BURTON - Free Love 17:41 ACTIVA, JULIE HARRINGTON - You Are Here (Ambient Mix) 17:36 PELARI, COLLIN WEX, DOMINIQUE FRICOT - Oasis (CollinWex Chill Mix) 17:33 SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA, JOHN MARTIN - Save The World (Matias Lehtola Unplugged Cover Mix) 17:29 SAGI REI - Missing 17:21 TORNIKE - Night Steps (Original Mix) 17:17 CHRISTIAN BURNS, MARCO V - Frozen Heart (Acoustic Version) 17:10 VITODITO, SARA POLLINO - The Song I Promised You (Chillout Mix) 17:06 CALAR DEL SOLE - Cafe Del Mar (Lounge Remake) 17:00 PREMASARA COUNCIL - Sensual Ecstasy 16:54 BOB BALDWIN - Let's Fly Away 16:50 JAREZ - Wait a Minute 16:48 SHARMOND SMITH - What Child Is This 16:43 PATRICK BRADLEY - Meant to Be (feat. Darren Rahn) 16:39 BAKERS DOZEN - Bring It Home 16:35 PATRICK YANDALL - I See You 16:31 ADRIAN CRUTCHFIELD - Know Your Heart 16:28 JAEE LOGAN - The Great Sands 16:22 JUSTIN YOUNG - Jingle Bells 16:18 THE SAX PACK - Here To Stay 16:12 CINDY BRADLEY - Sonny's Home 16:08 JAZZ IN PINK - Steppin' To The Keys 16:03 QUINTIN GERARD W. - Cruisin' 0n Taxi Way 16:00 VINCENT INGALA - What Does It Take (Vinnie's Take) 15:56 ERIC DARIUS - All Around The World 15:52 BRYAN LUBECK - Vineyard Romance 15:48 RONNY SMITH - Christmas Time is Here 15:43 UNDER THE LAKE - Have I Told You 15:39 NICK COLIONNE - Uncle Nick 15:35 DAVE KOZ - Right By Your Side 15:32 MARK JAIMES - Heads Up (feat. Rick Braun) 15:28 SHAUN LABELLE - Spin Cycle 15:24 KEB' MO' - Better Everyday 15:20 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Sailing Away 15:15 ADAM HAWLEY - While You Were Dreaming (Feat. Michael Lington) 15:11 AL DEGREGORIS - Smooth It Out 15:05 AMANDUS - One Day for a Lifetime 15:00 REZA KHAN - Broken River 14:54 BRIAN CULBERTSON - I Wanna Love You (feat. Ray Parker Jr.) 14:51 BENNETT B - Together We Stand 14:47 KIM WATERS - My Christmas Wish 14:44 PHILLIP DOC MARTIN - Pocket Love 14:39 KEITH SLATTERY - Love Is All You Need 14:36 MARK ETHEREDGE - You & me & we (Remastered) (feat. Paul Brown) 14:31 NILS - Jump Start 14:26 STEVE OLIVER - Circles 14:23 ARIEL B - Don't Wake Me Up ('Til It's Christmas) 14:17 CHRIS STANDRING - Out of the Blue 14:14 PETER WHITE - Mister Magic 14:10 BONEY JAMES - Detour 14:04 JAWANZA KOBIE - Let Me Lead 14:00 CRAIG SHARMAT - The Back Nine 13:56 CHUCK LOEB - Springs 13:52 GINO ROSARIA - Island Life 13:47 JOY RIDE - Strollin' 13:44 CHRIS GODBER - At Last 13:39 SMOOTH SOUL HOLIDAY - Angel's Serenade 13:34 LAWSON ROLLINS - Come To Light 13:29 PIECES OF A DREAM - In Too Deep 13:24 WARREN HILL - Renewal 13:21 VINCENT INGALA - The True Meaning of Christmas 13:18 CHRIS GODBER - Sizzle (feat. Adam Hawley) 13:13 CAROL ALBERT - On My Way 13:09 MARCUS ANDERSON - Your Touch (Dedicated To Will & Maggie Shares) 13:04 BUTCH, RHONDA COLEMAN - Bean's Groove 13:00 NICK COLIONNE - Call Me Love 12:56 RAGAN WHITESIDE - Meu Amigo, Meu Amante 12:51 ROBERT HARRIS - Life's Journey 12:47 SYLVIA BENNETT - Wrap You up for Christmas (World Version) 12:42 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Hammers of Love 12:39 ADAM HAWLEY - 35Th St. (Feat. Eric Darius) 12:35 BENNETT B - MIdnight Passion 12:31 EJAZZ ARTISTRY - Never Too Much 12:26 FREDDIE FOX - Day Dreamin' 12:24 ART MORRIS - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 12:20 SERGEY CHIPENKO, DAVE KOZ - Kindness (Remastered 2021) 12:15 MARC ANTOINE - Hi-Lo Split 12:10 PETER WHITE - Wake Up Everybody 12:05 GARY MEEK - For a Long Time 12:00 RHYTHM LOGIC - There for You 11:54 CHRIS STANDRING - All In Good Time 11:49 U-NAM - Back in Style 11:45 SHARMOND SMITH - The First Noel 11:41 MEKIEL REUBEN - No Where Love 11:37 NILS - Jump Start 11:33 ROB SABADO - Spice Of Life 11:28 DAVID BENOIT - Rejoyce 11:24 ANDRE DELANO - Face Off 11:21 DREW DAVIDSEN - Joy To the World 11:17 BRAD ALEXANDER - Straight Up (feat. Donald Hayes) 11:12 JC SOL - Our Groove 11:08 GARY MEGGS - Life's Little Changes 11:04 HIROSHIMA - Always Tomorrow 11:00 PATRICK LAMB - I See it in Your Eyes 10:56 D.A. SCOTT - We as One 10:51 BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Thickets 10:47 CHRIS 'BIG DOG' DAVIS - Santa Baby 10:41 AL DEGREGORIS - Times and Travels 10:36 KIM SCOTT - Poolside 10:33 PAUL BROWN - Angel 10:29 PHILLIP DOC MARTIN - American Garden 10:25 BLAKE AARON - Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing (feat. Kim Scott) 10:20 DAVE KOZ - I'll Be Home For Christmas (Feat. Matt Cusson) 10:16 RAGAN WHITESIDE - In Love 10:12 PIECES OF A DREAM - It's A Vibe 10:08 PATRICK YANDALL - Someone to Love 10:03 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Sweet Spot (feat. Paul Brown) 10:00 RICK HABANA - Lost Records 09:57 PETER WHITE - Excusez-Moi 09:54 RICK HABANA - LA to KC (feat. Blair Bryant) 09:49 PEGGY DUQUESNEL - Under the Christmas Tree 09:44 ELAN TROTMAN - Twice as Nice (feat. Marcus Anderson) 09:40 GREGG KARUKAS - Green Hills 09:36 JACKIEM JOYNER - Secret Admirer 09:31 PETER WHITE - Don't Want To Be A Fool 09:27 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Tonight Is the Night 09:22 SHAKATAK - Silent Night 09:18 NILS - Catnap 09:14 RANDY SCOTT - T.G.I.F. 09:10 VINCENT INGALA - Hypnotic State 09:06 BRIAN SIMPSON - A Soft Touch 09:00 EUGE GROOVE - Get Em Goin' 08:54 PETER WHITE - The Storm 08:50 SHARMOND SMITH - It's Christmas Time Again 08:46 AL GOMEZ - Groovetimez 08:41 WALTER BEASLEY - Strasbourg 08:38 JAY KING - Breathe (Cami's Song) 08:33 CHIELI MINUCCI - Leilani 08:27 JEFFERY SMITH - Turn It Up 08:22 CHRISTMAS CAROLS - Happy Christmas 08:18 JEANETTE HARRIS - Just Keep Holding On 08:13 MICHAEL ROSS - Four Seasons to Cross 08:10 TONY MOMRELLE - We Can Have It All 08:06 FREDDIE FOX - Still Lovin' You 08:00 KIM SCOTT - What You Stank About This 07:55 JIM ADKINS - A Kiss From You 07:51 RONALD BOO HINKSON - Prim 07:45 MARCUS ANDERSON - Oh Come All Ye' Faithful 07:41 DAVE KOZ - The Bright Side 07:38 BEN TANKARD - Afternoon Nap 07:34 PEET PROJECT - Tell Me You Want It 07:28 JEREMY HECTOR - Ascension 07:24 JOHN NOVELLO - Love Affair 07:20 MARION MEADOWS - The First Noel 07:15 BOB BALDWIN - Stand Tall 07:11 BRYAN LUBECK - Top Down 07:08 JAZZ FUNK SOUL - Count Me In 07:03 GREGG KARUKAS - Azure Dreaming 07:00 WADE C. LONG - Happy Go Lucky 06:56 BRIAN CULBERTSON - Go 06:52 PETER WHITE - In The Rain 06:48 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Let's Do It 06:44 IN GIWON CHRISTMAS CAROL COLLECTION - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 06:41 NILS - In The Moment 06:36 KEN NAVARRO - Frenchmen Street 06:33 VINCENT INGALA - T.L.C. (Tender Lovin' Care) 06:29 MARQUEAL JORDAN - What Key 06:25 ADAM HAWLEY - Detroit 06:21 SPECIAL EFX - Silent Night 06:18 GHOST JAZZ TRIO BAND - Looking Good (feat. James Morgan) 06:12 OLI SILK - Tokyo 06:09 WILL DONATO - Jaywalkin' 06:04 WALTER BEASLEY - Skip To My Lew 06:00 JEFF KASHIWA - August Nights 05:55 JAREZ - One Take 05:50 GREGG KARUKAS - Believe in Me 05:45 SHAKATAK - Merry Christmas In Summer 05:42 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY - Get Up (Levantar y Bailar) 05:38 LOUIE FITZGERALD - Surviving the Storm 05:34 NICHOLAS COLE - The Weekend 05:30 EARNEST WALKER JR - Chandelle Drive 05:26 J. WHITE - Free 05:22 BRADLEY LEIGHTON - Winter Wonderland 05:17 PAUL BROWN - The City (Instrumental) 05:11 KIM WATERS - 95 North 05:08 PATRICK YANDALL - Let's Flow 05:03 BRETTINA - Low 05:00 BEN TANKARD - Goodness Gracious 04:55 TERENCE YOUNG - Still Here 04:51 JEREMY HECTOR - St Paul's 04:46 DR. SAXLOVE - Greensleeves 04:42 MARK HARRIS II - Pocket Change (feat. Bernard Harris) 04:38 MARCUS ANDERSON - Unity 04:34 AL DEGREGORIS - Absolute 04:30 MARION MEADOWS - Dream Catcher 04:26 GREGG KARUKAS - Rocky Peak 04:22 JULIAN VAUGHN - O Christmas Tree 04:17 PETER WHITE - Caravan Of Dreams 04:12 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Feelin' Good 04:08 MARC ANTOINE - Still In Love 04:04 SEAN U - Sunburst 04:00 BLAIR BRYANT - B's Bounce 03:55 KIM SCOTT - Give Thanks 03:52 RICK HABANA - RH Lounge 03:49 COOL SPRING JAZZ QUARTET - Go Tell It On The Mountain 03:44 MEZZOFORTE - Sizzle 03:39 DOMINIC CAMARDELLA - Headwinds 03:35 VINCENT INGALA - What's Option B 03:30 LAWSON ROLLINS - Quest 03:26 UNDER THE LAKE - When Autumn Comes 03:23 AARON BING - Silent Night 03:17 LOUIE FITZGERALD - Watery Eyes 03:13 ADAM HAWLEY - Anytime At All 03:10 PEET PROJECT - On My Way 03:04 BLACK GOLD MASSIVE - Let It Flow (Sausalito Calling) 03:00 JEFF RYAN - Embrace 02:56 BENNETT B - Selfie 02:53 OLI SILK - All We Need 02:49 EJAZZ ARTISTRY - Need You Now 02:45 BRADLEY LEIGHTON - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 02:41 PAUL BROWN - In The Shadows 02:37 RANDY SCOTT - Tempo 02:33 JACKIEM JOYNER - Round The World 02:29 GERALD ALBRIGHT - G-Wiggle 02:25 BEN TANKARD - Still Here 02:20 DAVE KOZ - Little Drummer Boy 02:17 FUNKTASTIC PLAYERS - Always 02:13 CHRIS STANDRING - The Gist of You 02:09 JEREMY HECTOR - I'll Remember 02:04 AVENUE BLUE - Just Goodbye (feat. Jeff Golub) 02:00 MARCUS ANDERSON - Pure Love 02:00 MARK HARRIS II - Pocket Change (feat. Bernard Harris) 01:56 MARION MEADOWS - Life In The Clouds 01:51 KIM SCOTT - Treetops 01:48 JODY MAYFIELD - Angels We Have Heard on High 01:43 GREGG KARUKAS - Riverside Drive 01:38 PETER WHITE - Peeto Bandito 01:34 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - After Hours 01:30 ROB TARDIK - Get Up 01:26 BRIAN SIMPSON - Whisper To Me 01:22 KNIGHTHAMMER - Christmas, I Love You 01:18 JEANETTE HARRIS - Saxy 01:14 BRENDAN ROTHWELL - Carmel 01:08 MEZZOFORTE - Sea Breeze 01:04 DEE LUCAS - All In (feat. George Freeman) 01:00 BRIAN CULBERTSON - Go 00:56 BLAKE AARON - Shine 00:52 NORMAN BROWN - Late Night Drive 00:49 GARY PALMER - Coast 2 Coast 00:45 DIDIER LABOSSIERE - Back to the Beginning 00:43 JONATHAN BUTLER - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 00:39 BENNETT B - Above The Clouds 00:35 ADAM HAWLEY - Cruisin' (Feat. Brian Culbertson) 00:32 VANN BURCHFIELD - Never Too Much 00:27 ROB MALETICK - In My Arms 00:23 RON OTIS - Out of Pocket 00:20 SHAKATAK - Jingle Bells 00:16 TONY SAUNDERS - My Real Love 00:12 PHILIPPE SAISSE - And So But Then 00:08 LES SABLER - Keep Pushin' 00:04 PAUL BROWN - Deep Into It 00:00 SPONTANEOUS GROOVIN' COMBUSTION - Soul Stirrer

[thegeekx]

Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine

Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine

(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) US President Joe Biden told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly that Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine “should make your blood run cold.” Biden discussed how Russian President Vladimir Putin had denied Ukraine’s statehood, adding that “now we see attacks on schools, railway stations, hospitals, on centers of Ukrainian history and…

[justfilms]

Mortuary - Howard Avedis 1983

[awardseason]

34th USC Scripter Awards — Winners

Film Adaptation

“Dune” Screenwriters: Eric Roth, John Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve Based on: “Dune” novel by Frank Herbert

“The Lost Daughter” — WINNER Screenwriter: Maggie Gyllenhaal Based on: “The Lost Daughter” novel by Elena Ferrante

“Passing” Screenwriter: Rebecca Hall Based on: “Passing” novel by Nella Larsen

“The Power of the Dog” Screenwriter: Jane Campion Based on: “The Power of the Dog” novel by Thomas Savage 

“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Screenwriter: Joel Cohen Based on: “Macbeth” play by William Shakespeare

TV Adaptation

“Dopesick” (Episode: “The People vs. Purdue Pharma”) — WINNER Writer: Danny Strong Based on: “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America” nonfiction book by Beth Macy

“Maid” (Episode: “Dollar Store”) Writer: Molly Smith Retzler Based on: “Maid: Hard Work, Loy Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive” memoir by Stephanie Land

“Station Eleven” (Episode: “Dollar Store”) Writer: Patrick Somerville Based on: “Station Eleven” novel by Emily St. John Mandel

“The Underground Railroad” (Episode: “Indiana Winter”) Writer: Barry Jenkins Based on: “The Underground Railroad” novel by Colson Whitehead

“WandaVision” (Episode: “Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience”) Writer: Jac Shaeffer Based on: Marvel Comics created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Inaugural Literary Achievement Award

Barry Jenkins — WINNER