Hello sweet friends! These days have been a doozy and I just want you to know- I appreciate that you take time to spend a few moments in this space. I know I’ve said it before but I never take it for granted. We have the great privilege of holding one another and we can not forget it.
Here’s some weighty links from the week. Not all the weighty links because, just because. Here’s what we’ve got, and at the end- soup:
• Gosh the news is a stresser these days. With that, we’re keeping our eyes on Hurrican Irma. Gosh the anticipation is lengthy, isn’t it?
• What Does An Innocent Man Have To Do To Go Free? Plead Guilty. I’m also watching the Netflix show The Confession Tapes – INSANE. My question is, why do detectives get to tell you lies in order to get a confession? That seems highly coercive and waaaay manipulative.
• Think about this: there was a time when the rich said no to getting richer. We’re talking about taxes for just a moment. It’s interesting!
• This is a really compelling look inside two high-level American industries and why wealth disparities among us are increasing. Consider the Janitors At Two Top Companies; Then and Now.
• Let’s not buy disposable clothes.
• I 100% feel this way about my social security number. How can it hold so much over and about us and be so vulnerable and accesible to ne’er-do-wells? Your Social Security Number Now Looks Like a Time Bomb. Also, I’m just as surprised as you are that to word ne’er-do-wells appears in today’s post. Wait, one more thing. If you were learning English as your second language, the word ‘ne’er-do-wells’ would really throw a wrench in things.
• I took an unexpected trip down memory lane to my old Venice kitchen and my old bangs.
• Really very casual: At Home With George Clooney.
• Do you ever wake up in the morning and feel like, even though its impossible, you want to try and be as amazing as writer Joan Didion? Me too.
• Hey PORTLAND, OREGON! I’m going to be signing copies of Over Easy at Powell’s this coming Saturday September 16th at 2pm! I would love to see you!
• Found six straggler carrots in my refrigerator and made a half batch of this Vegan Carrot Jalapeno Soup!
• I hopped on that Fall Comfort Food Bandwagon real quick: Gluten-Free Chicken and Dumplings.
• Never fails. I have champagne taste: see here.
• Oh speaking of champagne and related things, I’m trying out this wine delivery program. They send you four bottles with each order along with notes and recipe pairings and a guided tasting online. Really… it’s so much better than the impromptu label-based wine buying I do at the grocery store. Ya feel me?
That’s all for today.
Big love to you.
xo Joy
J-Mom
Needed the Chicken and Dumplings. I actually made up the soup part on Sunday. Just cooking and smelling the soup felt good. Finally made the dumplings last night to make it a meal.
Julie
I haven’t started The Confession Tapes yet, although I definitely will watch it – looks fascinating! I am a lawyer, so thought I’d venture forth something of an answer about police being allowed to lie to suspects to get a confession. So the rule is, per the US Supreme Court, that police are allowed to lie but are not allowed to coerce. Which of course begs the question, how do they define coercion? In layman’s terms, anything that would tug at a reasonable person’s heart strings. In the old days, when cops would realize they had a suspect who was related to or friends with someone on the force, they’d send that person in to tell the suspect “hey, the chief is really mad about this case and I’m going to get fired if someone doesn’t confess to this crime today!!” Which is of course not true. Or if a suspect had a kid who’d committed a different, totally unrelated crime, they’d tell them that if they confessed their kid would walk with a clean record. Which of course also wasn’t true. The Supreme Court said no you can’t do this. It’s reasonable to think that most people, whether they committed a crime or not, would want to protect a loved one from losing their job, or would stick their neck out for their kid. It’s too compromising. It tugs at emotions. What cops can do is for example, tell a suspect that they found DNA at the crime scene and they are running it right now, when in actuality they didn’t recover DNA from the crime scene. The theory goes that if the suspect really did commit the crime, they’ll think, Oh crap the jig is up, they’re gonna nail me anyways, I might as well confess; but an innocent person would not care that DNA was found because they knew it wouldn’t implicate them, and this would in no way compel them to confess to anything. Think of it like this: let’s say you suspect your significant other is cheating on you, but you lack proof. If you just ask them outright, they’ll probably lie and say no of course I’m not cheating on you honey. But let’s say you lied and said, “I know you’re cheating on me, I saw you with that guy/girl!” even though you didn’t see them. If they are cheating, they’re likely to admit it under those circumstances. If they’re not, they’ll just be really confused (and probably angry and hurt and it’s possible nothing good comes from this conversation) but the point is that they aren’t going to fabricate some person they haven’t been sleeping with just because you accused them. That’s how it works on paper. The reality is MUCH murkier. Cops have training, expertise, stamina and tactics, not to mention strength in numbers that a hurt lover does not. False confessions HAVE resulted from allowable lies and it’s not good. But, on paper, that is the rule.
Amy
When I first started teaching in 1999, we would get printed confirmations whenever we signed up for teacher workshops. These confirmation sheets would include the names and *full* social security number of EVERY person who was signed up for that workshop, because the school district I worked for used our SSN as our employee number. I freaked out when I saw this, went to HR about it, and the response was little more than “meh”. I still can’t believe this practice went on for years until the teacher union finally forced the district to assign employee ID numbers that were not our socials. I still have fears that this is going to come back to cause me problems. As much as we out into protecting our identity now, I can’t believe my employer pretty much posted it for every other district employee to see.
Liz
Thanks for the throwaway fashion article. We really need to start being more conscious of our clothing purchases, and for so many reasons, unfair labor practices being just one of them.
Katie
Hi Joy – Super random but my friend actually lives in your old apartment! It’s such a cute space! I’m more of a recent follower so this was a cool surprise to read today. Also, side note: I used to work at a flower company and had sent you a bouquet (I think when u first moved to New Orleans). Not sure if you remember that but my name is Katie. Such a small world — thank you for sharing this! Love all your Sunday posts :)
joythebaker
THAT IS INSANE!
Chandra Meyers
Oh thanks for the Carrot / Jalapeno soup reminder! Now I totally know what I am doing for dinner. I have some fresh Jalapenos from my garden!
I am sad that I won’t get to see you in Portland this weekend, but I will be camping at the coast. I will have to check to see what I can pull out of my copy of Over Easy that I can make on a campfire…
Emily
Joy, do you have recommendations for more ethical clothing companies?
Emily
Hi, I’m not Joy (obvi), but this is a good site with multiple options: https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-clothing :)
Angie
Joy, I just wanted to say thanks! I started following and slowly but surely reading your Let It Be Sunday posts and I have so enjoyed them! I look forward to your post and i have read more and more each time and have learned a lot. So thanks for doing this!
Taste of France
The podcast This American Life had a great show a week ago about a regular guy who re-investigates crimes on behalf of people who were wrongfully convicted. It started with a friend, who spent 20 years in prison for a crime he wasn’t even near by. Detectives showed a kid some photos, and to get out of questioning (the kid hadn’t seen the shooting), he picked one, which happened to be a random guy. The detectives then pressed other witnesses to say the same random guy was the shooter. He was tried and convicted and spent 20 years because every time he came up for parole he refused to say he was remorseful–he kept insisting on his innocence. He got out only because his friend came up with new evidence and got the original witnesses to testify that they had lied. Even the real shooter (who had been tried, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, and got out years earlier; double-jeopardy meant he wouldn’t be tried again).
And to think that in some states he would have been put to death.
The report didn’t say what the detectives were up to these days. Probably comfortably retired. I think they tell themselves they have the right guy and that even if not, they have somebody who is guilty of something, so they are justified. I don’t think they consider that they might be wrong. If they do, then it’s even worse.
Rena
Thanks for taking me with you in your old Venice kitchen. Unbelievable you cooked the meals for two cook books in this small kitchen and you look cute with the bangs :)
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com
Suellen
Love your kitchen. Such a fresh, innocent face! So cute.