President Trump thunders that Democrats are trying to drag America toward “socialism,” Vice President Mike Pence warns that Democrats aim to “impose socialism on the American people,” and even some Democrats warn against becoming, as one put it, “[expletive] Denmark.”

So, before the coronavirus pandemic, I crept behind [expletive] Danish lines to explore: How scary is Denmark? How horrifying would it be if the United States took a step or two in the direction of Denmark? Would America lose its edge, productivity and innovation, or would it gain well-being, fairness and happiness?

So, here, grab a Danish, and we’ll chat about how a [expletive] progressive country performs under stress. The pandemic interrupted my reporting, but I’d be safer if I still were in Denmark: It has had almost twice as much testing per capita as the United States and fewer than half as many deaths per capita.

Put it this way: More than 35,000 Americans have already died in part because the United States could not manage the pandemic as deftly as Denmark.

Denmark lowered new infections so successfully that last month it reopened elementary schools and day care centers as well as barber shops and physical therapy centers. Malls and shops will be allowed to reopen on Monday, and restaurants and cafes a week later.

Moreover, Danes kept their jobs. The trauma of massive numbers of people losing jobs and health insurance, of long lines at food banks — that is the American experience, but it’s not what’s happening in Denmark. America’s unemployment rate last month was 14.7 percent, but Denmark’s is hovering in the range of 4 percent to 5 percent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/opinion/sunday/us-denmark-economy.html

As a teenage girl paralyzed with fear, one of the darkest albums of the 1990s, “The Downward Spiral,” gave me the guts to rebel against my tormentors.

During my first week of school in Kentucky, in 5th grade, at the very beginning of the first Gulf War, a boy drew a picture and hung it on the classroom wall. On one side was an illustration of me; on the other, the rest of my classmates and teacher. Above my head, in marker, the words “Saddam Salam.” The teacher came in, examined it, peeled it off and never said a thing. I’ve since joked that I was the “literal poster child for bullying,” but it’s not so funny.

In that town, a tight-knit community in the Bible Belt, my Arabness and my Muslim background were glaring targets. I was terrorized ruthlessly, by those looking to elevate their station or find the butt of a joke, including the occasional teacher. For stretches over the next few years, throughout middle school, I would sit in a classroom during lunch or in the front office during recess, for my safety.

Hometown pride is everything in a town like that, and it was made exceedingly clear that this was not my hometown. Which, of course, it wasn’t.

I spent my first four years in Beirut, Lebanon, during one of the worst eras of its civil war. The pandemonium of bombs detonating was the soundtrack of my formative years. (Memories that surged back to the surface with the blast in Beirut last month.) My parents, with little choice but to chase down a better life, moved with their three daughters to the United States, landing in Colorado and Missouri for a few years before Kentucky.

...

“The Downward Spiral” gave me the nerve to fight for what’s mine, and with my newfound armor, I began high school transformed, inside and out, to the point that some of my classmates didn’t recognize me. I inscribed the letters “nin” on my backpack in Wite-Out — an audacious signal in that conservative community, where such music was considered devilish. The bullying stopped almost on a dime, and I felt what was once unthinkable: cool.

By going public with my fandom — in the time just before the internet allowed us to find our tribes with relative ease — the other others came into view. I wasn’t so alone after all. I became aware that tucked into corners all around me, in that very school and town, were creative kids similarly struggling. These newfound connections opened up new worlds of sounds, messages and musicians that would further mold me: Fiona Apple, Rage Against the Machine, Garbage, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Nirvana, Ani DiFranco and my favorite of all, Tori Amos. These artists would provide the score as I carved an atypical path through my 20s. The decade culminated in me coming out as gay.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/arts/music/nine-inch-nails-trent-reznor.html

If Adam Hollingsworth — the so-called Dreadhead Cowboy — had to do it all over again, he said he would still gladly make the unauthorized gallop on the Dan Ryan Expressway to spotlight violence against children in Chicago this year.

The urban horseman enjoyed local celebrity as an activist and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s census ambassador before being charged with felony animal cruelty following his ride earlier this week. But on Thursday, he pleaded for help from the mayor’s office and Chicago’s pantheon of famous and socially conscious rappers to make the criminal case go away.

Hollingsworth quickly went viral Monday as he livestreamed his horseback ride on the expressway during the afternoon rush hour. “I shut down the Dan Ryan, Kids' Lives Matter,” he streamed on Facebook Live. But the excitement of the moment quickly melted away at the end of the ride when the animal collapsed, critically injured, and Hollingsworth was arrested. In addition to the felony, he faces misdemeanor counts of trespassing and reckless conduct.

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“Yes, I’d do it again,” said Hollingworth, 33. “I’ve been to jail. I’ve got a background. I’m not perfect. I would rather go to jail for something like (this). That is something worth going to jail for.” Hollingsworth added: “And I didn’t mean no harm on my horse, at all. I’m a horse- (and) animal-loving person. My focus is Kids Lives Matter. And If a person can’t agree with that, I don’t know what to call you.”

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The animal was dehydrated, exhausted and injured when it collapsed on the asphalt roadway near 95th Street following a 7.5-mile ride. Authorities said the horse was transported to an animal rescue shelter for medical evaluation.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-deadhead-cowboy-speaks-20200925-r27jjz4lzfgxjcotfcr6piwn6m-story.html

Michigan's favorite Halloween treat is again candy corn because we apparently love garbage

Well, we just can't have any nice things in 2020, can we?

As you probably definitely recall, one of the greatest highlights of 2019 was that beautiful September day when, for the first time in years, candy corn was no longer declared Michigan's favorite Halloween candy, according to an annual CandyStore.com study of best-selling candy. The honor went to Starburst.

Well, sorry, everyone. It was an aberration. We're back to having a garbage taste in candy. Because candy corn is once again Michigan's favorite Halloween candy, followed by Starburst and Skittles.

I give up.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/09/25/candy-corn-halloween-candy-michigan/3528461001/