Magpie's Nest

A local paper had some great photographs, all taken by Nicole Hester:

The day before, Rep. Justin Pearson tries to attend a Senate Committee meeting and is barred access by the Sergeant at Arms.

Lawmakers and protesters link arms as the descend the capitol steps.

Once inside the chamber, Democratic representatives continued to stand together with arms linked.

They continued standing together with arms linked as votes were cast.

Democratic representatives take a group photo protesting the redistricting.

Rep. Justin Jones burns a photo of the Confederate flag with the words, We will not go back.

And stomps the ashes.

KeShaun Pearson being escorted from the building by the Staties.

KeShaun Pearson (left) being taken into custody. Rep. Justin Pearson (right) showing his support of his brother.

Additional information: State lawmakers have been gunning for Pearson and Jones nearly their entire terms. Most notably, in 2023, the House expelled them for participating in a protest at the Capitol. Their districts had to have special elections to have them reinstated.

Pearson is one of the plaintiffs of a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the redistricting.

i went to a show on the weekend and loved a band - big enough to tour nationally, small enough to be the opener at a $20 bar show. we chatted and i bought merch and it was perfectly lovely but i’d listened to their album since getting tickets and have come to love it in a much more specific and personal way than “awesome set, you guys were great”

in the past i would not have done anything with these feelings, and if i shared them with anyone it would have been my friends - certainly not the band. but instead i wrote them a long and earnest message the next day. embarrassing! horrible! but knowing what it has meant to me to receive such a message made me push through it and hit send even while wanting to pitch myself into a pit of personal mortification.

but what do you know, lo and behold, shocking no one except the cop and coward in my head, the lead singer replied thanking me, and talked more about their plans and music, in an even longer wall of text.

it’s things like this that keep me going as an artist, he said. thank you again, my heart is so full

anyways, so is mine, thinking of all the people who have told me exactly how something i shared made them feel, and made me confront how pointless and miserly it is to sit on my feelings and gratitude just because i am shy of showing them; what a sad dead end for the transformative touch of creation, when it could be reflected right back into the heart of the person who reached out into your guts in the first place.

"you look great!" - normal. Anyone could say this. Could be true or could just be lying to be nice. Very normal expected thing to say to someone

It's a necessary emotion. There are reasons we have it. It makes everything so. much. worse. when you use it wrong.

Shame and guilt are DE-motivators. They are meant to stop behavior, not promote it. You cannot, ever, in any meaningful way, guilt someone into doing good. You can only shame them into not doing bad.

Let's say you're a parent and your kid is having issues.

Swearing in class? Shame could work. You want them to stop it. Keep it in proportion*, and it might help. *(KEEP IT IN PROPORTION!!!)

Not doing their homework? NO! STOP! NO NOT DO THAT! EVER! EVER! EVER! You want them to start to do their homework. Shaming them will have to opposite effect! You have demotivated them! They will double down on NOT doing it. Not because they are being oppositional, but because that's what shame does!

You can't guilt people into building better habits, being more successful, or getting more involved. That requires encouragement. You need to motivate for that stuff!

If you want it in a simple phrase:

[image 2: the periodic table of the elements, except that hydrogen and helium are in their own box labeled "Real elements", and elements 3 (lithium) through 118 (oganesson) are labeled "Mental illness".]

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This book spent nine weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and earned glowing reviews from Kirkus and many more. I’m so proud of it. I also won’t see any royalties until I sell another 13k copies.

Please also do what you can to support the other Jewish artists in your life. We’re experiencing an undeclared boycott of Jewish artists right now because leftist gentiles refuse to cease conflating Jewish artists and pasts with the Israeli government.

Thank you 💗