Fragments & Morsels
Covid's Population Shift, Wildfire Spikes after July 4, Brittney Griner's Attempt at Confession, and Readers Weigh in on Last Week's Dad/Daughter Letter
Dear Reader,
I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I didn't do too much over the Independence Day holiday. Montana Instruments (where I work) was closed both Monday and Tuesday, so it was a nice four days off during which I read a few books, watched a movie or two, wrote a couple of letters, and gave thought to our nation's celebration of freedom.
Though I didn't post anything online, I saw plenty of interpretations of the holiday from many grateful for our country, as well as a few who had determined there is nothing worth celebrating about America. And, of course, the news of the parade shooting in Highland Park, IL, put a sad damper on things at the end of the day, regardless of one's perspective.
In thinking about the day, I was reminded of these words from Founding Father John Adams written to his wife, Abigail, on July 3, 1776, which seem to get at both the glory and the gory of establishing and enshrining our nation (I have not adjusted capitalization or punctuation):
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”
Like Adams, I love and am grateful for these United States and find it worthy of celebration. Also with Adams, I trust in God to redeem the gloom which I and others rue as well. His will be done (there really is no other hope).
Craig
Hot Takes
“Mapped: Census Data Reveals COVID Population Shift” - Those of us living in the West can speak to the increased migration anecdotally, but this is the first map (interactive by county in the link) I’ve seen that seeks to map out the post-Covid migration by the numbers. The big “winners”? The West, Southwest, and the Sunbelt.
“This race to the Rockies and Southwest in our work-from-anywhere world signals emerging powers in tech, business, politics, philanthropy—every dimension of life.”
Two other observations the article makes: 1) America is getting older (since 2000, the national median age has jumped by 3.4 years to 38.8; and 2) America is getting more diverse (every race and origin group grew from July 2020 to July 2021—except the white population, which fell 0.03%).
This map is already a year old. It would be interesting to see if/how much darker the colors have become in these areas now (I bet my current state of Montana is more green, my home state of Illinois more purple). Click here for the interactive version.
“Western Cities Get Creative after Megadrought Leads Some to Cancel Firework Displays” - I guess I’m in a chart mood this week. Maybe the reason I chose this one is I’m still harboring bad feelings toward those in my neighborhood who set off fireworks at all hours of the night four days leading up to July 4th. Or, maybe it’s due to the huge anomaly the chart shows in terms of how human-caused wildfires spike around the July 4 holiday.
“An estimated 19,500 fires were started by fireworks in 2018, according to the National Fire Protection Association. And nearly 30% of the fires caused by fireworks are ignited on the Fourth of July, based on 2014 to 2018 annual averages.
In addition, a CNN analysis of National Interagency Fire Center data, shows a large spike in new wildfires over the last eight years surrounding the Fourth of July holiday.”
Unlike last year, we in western Montana have yet to be impacted by smoke from other fires further west, but in both the newspaper and on the radio yesterday morning, forecasters are saying it’s coming. While poor forest management is the overarching (but not only) issue, seeing the spike in these wildfire numbers from the past eight years makes me wonder to what degree we’re sabotaging ourselves mid-summer.
“Detained WNBA Star Brittney Griner Pleads Guilty to Drug Charges in Russia” - Or she kind of does?
“Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Feb. 17, told the court that she packed vape cartridges accidentally and did not intend to break Russian law.
‘I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn't want to break the law,’ Griner told the judge in English, which was then translated into Russian for the court.”
Possible actual translation: “I did it, but I shouldn’t be in trouble because I didn’t mean to get caught.” As a friend wrote on Facebook,
“Here are the arguments I've seen today for the release of Brittney Griner:
She’s an underpaid WNBA athlete and was only in Russia to try to make ends meet in the off-season.
She’s LGBTQ.
We can’t trust Russian courts.
Here’s the argument I've never seen: She didn’t commit the crime with which she is charged.”
President Biden and Vice-President Harris are both stepping in “to offer support,” but they’re not addressing the issue either. And here’s the statement from the WNBA:
“‘You can't navigate it [Russian courts] or even understand it like our own legal system,’ said WNBAPA Executive Director Terri Jackson. ‘What we do know is that the U.S. State Department determined that Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained for a reason and we’ll leave it at that.’”
In classic denial, everyone is getting blamed but Griner. My friend goes on to write,
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse unless we really, really don’t like the country that passed the law or the person who broke it is the poster child for one or more causes that we really, really do like.”
Everybody wants justice until it applies to them. I hope she owns her mistake and gets to come home sooner than later.
Fragments & Morsels
Readership for last week’s, “After Roe: A Letter to My Young Adult Daughters about the Dobbs Decision,” hit a whopping 70% open rate (amazing when you consider the average industry rate is just over 20%) and generated four letters, all from women ranging in age from their early twenties to their mid-fifties.
Here’s the first one:
“Not sure if you knew this but my grandmother had my mom as an older teenager after being date-raped. My mom was placed for adoption and my biological grandmother spent some 30 years not knowing if her child was a girl or boy and where they were.
My mother protested to the courts to open her adoption records and was granted such therefore able to find her biological mother, whom I now call Grandma. Three generations (I pray) of faithful, God-fearing women (my mother, myself and my daughter) came from that decision to have my mother and place her into an adoption.
To add another layer to this thing that many liberals would say should have never happened (i.e. my grandma birthing a baby conceived in rape), my mother’s adoptive mom was abusive in many ways. But here I am with nothing but a wonderful memory of a faithful, God-fearing woman who was nothing like her adoptive mother and nothing but so thankful that she was given life.
My biological grandmother might say she is pro-choice but I know she also cannot fathom how anyone would willfully kill a baby. She, like many, has abortion and normal medical practice confused.”
I wasn’t aware of my friend’s lineage, but I’m glad for God’s redemption of it. We need to hear and be reminded these stories, which is why I love sharing them here.
Here’s a note from another reader who longs for conversation, not condescension:
“I keep forwarding your Friday newsletters because you are putting into words the thoughts and feelings I struggle to communicate well. Maybe it’s a couple rounds of Covid that have slowed down my cognitive functioning or the lack of time I have to sit down and formulate those concepts into full paragraphs or the fact that many folks just want to argue and not converse, which saddens me. Thank you for cultivating conversation and not just only standing on a soapbox. I’m thankful for the time you spend to weigh both sides in a world where those sides keep becoming more distinctly different and angry at each other.”
Another woman had much to say in response to my specific questions inspired by Damon Linker’s article that I included in last Friday’s newsletter:
“I read both your letter and the one you referenced by Damon Linker. I would love to respond to some of the questions you asked as well as put forth some of my thoughts of late about this unfortunately controversial issue. First, your questions.
You asked, ‘I wonder what you, as young women, feel about the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision? Do you feel it an attack on your rights as so many seem to?’
I am overjoyed by the decision. Although I disagree with abortion entirely and think it should be wholly eliminated (hopefully someday, I pray), moving it to a state-by-state decision was the right call. It should never have been a federal issue. For once, I seem to agree with RGB [Ruth Bader Ginsburg] on something.
I do not feel like it is an attack on my rights, as I do not believe I ever had the right to murder a human being. I don’t have the right to go and murder my 35-year-old male neighbor or an employee at Target, and in the same way, I don’t have the right to murder a human child in utero. This repeal is not an attack on my rights; it’s a confirmation of the life that exists in the womb. It’s an act of protection and of freedom for those who have no voice. It acknowledges the rights of those who had been so longed denied theirs.
You asked, ‘I wonder to what degree you resonate with their [women upset about the repeal] fears and feelings? What degree are you afraid?’
I was completely ecstatic about the decision to repeal Roe v. Wade! I couldn’t believe it. In a country that has been working to promote LGBTQ+ education for PRESCHOOLERS, infiltrating kid’s media/shows with uber liberal political ideas, and shaming those without Covid vaccines, I was SHOCKED that Roe v. Wade had been overturned. And I was relieved.
But then, I opened my Instagram and my heart immediately sank. So many men and women I follow were completely outraged, claiming they felt like America was moving backwards; that their rights were being stripped from them and we had entered the medieval ages again. Sadly, and to my shock, many of my Christian friends were upset and posting about the stripping of rights.
I saw videos of angry women in their early 20s (same age as me) yelling about how the government had no right to take away their ‘choice’ and spewing vulgar insults at pro-lifers. And over the past few months, even before the repeal, I have been hearing about the numerous churches and pregnancy centers that have been vandalized and broken into. Instead of rejoicing as much as I should have on that day, I found my heart heavy with feeling like we still had so much work to do.
The last thing I will say is in direct response to Linker’s letter. I will never understand the viability argument from the pro-choice side. Is a newborn baby viable? Is a toddler? Is a 95-year-old person? Do they not require outside aid to feed, clothe, nurture, and keep them alive? What does viable even mean if not ‘able to survive and thrive in life?’ I would say a baby in the womb (especially in the last trimester) is as viable as a newborn child or 1-year-old baby. They are incapable of doing anything for themselves that would ensure their survival. They are dependent. They are small children who need to be loved and protected.”
Definitely a different viewpoint from many of the Generation Z perspectives circulating on social media. How many others hold a conviction similar to hers?
Finally, here’s a letter of wisdom urging empathy in the midst of anger:
“I saw the news almost immediately about Roe. I had been refreshing the Scotusblog page fairly regularly Friday morning anticipating the ruling. To read the leak a few weeks ago of Justice Alito's opinion was one thing; to actually see the official ruling on Dobbs was over the top. I had to refresh the page several times just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. My husband held me as I wept tears of joy. It was true: what we had prayed for relentlessly and secretly thought would never come to pass had actually occurred. Roe was overturned. And in our lifetime. Even today, 10 days later, it seems too good to be true.
Later that Friday I shed more tears as I watched social media explode with rants, rage, and rhetoric from my pro-choice friends. My friends. All of them angry and terrified about what's next for women's rights. There's a parallel between pro-life and pro-choice views: pro-life (both religious and secular) supporters have worked tirelessly and sacrificially for decades to see this day come. We will continue that work for sure. But pro-choice advocates have also worked tirelessly for women's rights for centuries to see the advancement of women's equality in both the private and the public sphere. Third Wave wave feminism has distorted the intent of women’s rights advocacy for sure; abortion is the ultimate equalizer in their minds. [To them] the Dobbs decision is a giant setback in the area of women’s freedom to pursue any and all opportunities for success in both the private and public spheres of their lives.
Friday's joy and turmoil left me wondering if I should be engaging in dialogue at all with friends who have opposing views. Should I just let the dust settle and be silent for a while? I had anger and sorrow over their own anger and sorrow: anger at their misinformed, misguided, and contradictory views; and sorrow over their terror about what their options look like now. I remember all too well what that felt like in my own situations.
Praying about it and reading smart and thoughtful people (like yourself) helped me decide to YES, reach out to my pro-choice friends in love and compassion, but to simply LISTEN to their fears, concerns, and anger. Right now is not the time to offer robust arguments refuting pro-choice views. There will be plenty of opportunities for that at a later time. But not now. Just listen and be a kind and compassionate friend.”
Readers who write are a privilege to have, particularly when they think and express themselves so well on the topic at hand. Thanks for engaging here at Second Drafts—your thinking and writing challenges me in mine and I’m glad for your contribution.
Fresh & Random Linkage
“Drug Smuggling: Underwater Drones Seized by Spanish Police” - Just your weekly reminder that criminals are also interested in drone technology.
“The Story Behind the Original Cover of The Great Gatsby and the Artist Who Created It” - Always loved the book and its cover. A classic on all fronts.
“Strong Passwords: The Mathematical Power of 3 Random Words” - “While ‘three random words’ doesn’t give you a fail-safe for password security, the complexity of language does provide some amazing power in this realm as well.” (Or you can just use Dashlane and be done with it.)
“2nd Visitor in 3 Days Gored by Bison in Yellowstone” - For the record, bison tend to be pretty nonchalant…until tourists give them reason not to be. Sigh.
Picture of the Week
Until next time.