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Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
A closet of one's own
We all need privacy – to misspeak, to err, to be intimate To hold one opinion but voice another, is this inauthentic? To conduct oneself as if one is being permanently surveilled, does that help democratic life? In her book Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life, British sociologist Tiffany Jenkins traverses centuries, to explain how the private and the public developed into two distinct realms, and how this historic achievement is now in mortal danger. Spark of conscience | From the Protestant iconoclasm of Martin Luther to the extensive adventurism of Henry VIII, the 16th century germinated the independence of 'inward things' from traditional authority. Hobbes's 1651 magnum opus Leviathan presented hypocrisy – the gap between public utterance and private belief – as key to protecting the social order from anarchy. The 1650 Toleration Act passed by Cromwell's parliament made strides towards making religion a private matter. Age of separations | The first modern biography, Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), the first modern autobiography, Rousseau's Confessions (1782), the first novel, Richardson's Pamela (1740), literacy rate for men in London approaching 80%, it was all of a piece with thinking for oneself. Simultaneous to the strengthening private sphere, was the rise of public life. Coffee houses were popping up everywhere. These were a male space, like the Atheninan agora. Male and female roles became sharply different. A woman effectively became her husband's property when she married. In 1801 the first census rolled out after an acrimonious five-decade resistance that it would 'molest and perplex every single family in the kingdom'. Drawing the line between a public realm open to state intervention and a private domain beyond it became the question of the age. Across the pond, the skepticism that met govt-led research was belied by the enthusiasm that met George Gallup, who founded his polling company in 1935. Americans liked answering questions about themselves and reading the results. As Kinsey discovered, they were also more than ready to share their sex 'histories'. Bernays' Propaganda (1928) proposed 'the engineering of consent', whereby these masses could be controlled by an 'invisible' govt, with insights from psychology and natural science. The personal is the political | This was Betty Friedan, Kate Millett and other second-wave feminists' counter to the 'interior colonisation' of women. But politicising the private sphere also meant depoliticising the public sphere. Redirecting scrutiny from social and economic structures of society to personal relationships placed an intolerable burden on everyone involved in such political practice, the book argues. Relatedly, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's criticism of the Roe vs Wade ruling was that abortion rights should not be a privacy issue but a matter of equal rights. Either way, the public-private separation forged in the 18th century weakened by the end of the 1970s. Let's talk about sex | Monica Lewinsky's was the first massive news story to break online. The Kenneth Starr report was accessed by 20mn Americans within 48 hours of its release. Fast forward to the normalisation of Pornhub and OnlyFans as examples of 'creator economy'. By now, threats to privacy are almost exclusively framed in terms of data and digital security. But, the book underlines, the protection of individual privacy ultimately depends on a clear boundary between private and public domains, which must be defended both online and offline. Strangers are not intimates. Why treat them like that? Protect your inner life instead. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Memorial Day 2025: Are Publix, other Palm Beach County stores open on holiday?
Memorial Day weekend is almost here, which means the summer season has unofficially started. Formerly known as "Decoration Day," the holiday seeks to commemorate those who died while serving in the U.S. military. With Memorial Day being a federal holiday, all banks, schools and nonessential government offices will be closed for the holiday weekend. However, most restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores will be open. So if you need to grab groceries or get prescriptions filled, you'll probably find what you need. Here's which Florida and Palm Beach County stores that will be open. Memorial Day 2025 is on Monday, May 26. It is always celebrated on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day weekend starts on Friday, May 23, and lasts through the weekend until Monday. Yes, it is one of 11 federal holidays in the U.S. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971. The 10 other federal holidays observed annually are: New Year's Day on January 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday in January Washington's Birthday, or Presidents Day, on the third Monday in February Juneteenth on June 19 Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, on July 4 Labor Day on the first Monday in September Columbus Day, or Indigenous Peoples Day, on the second Monday in October Veterans Day on Nov. 11 Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November Christmas on Dec. 25 While Memorial Day's origins are unclear, USA TODAY reported observances to honor service people began after the Civil War, which ended in 1865. It was first referred to as Decoration Day. According to the first observed celebration for the holiday occurred on May 30, 1868, due to Gen. John A. Logan, the leader of the Grand Army of the Republic for Northern Civil War veterans. Logan would then send out an official order designating May 30 as a day of remembrance for those who died serving in the Civil War. Up until World War I, northern and southern states celebrated different states to honor their fallen soldiers. Following WWI, the holiday's focus shifted to honor American soldiers who died in any war, not only the Civil War, the History Channel reports. In 1968 when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act – to give federal employees more three-day weekends throughout the year – Memorial Day moved to the last Monday in May. It was also declared a federal holiday in 1971. All USPS offices will be closed on Monday for retail transactions and no mail will be delivered, the company confirmed to USA TODAY. UPS and FedEx will also be closed for deliveries on Memorial Day, though some UPS stores may be open. FedEx Custom Critical will still be operating, according to the company's website. Most grocery stores are open on Memorial Day, including: Aldi Fresh Market Publix Sprouts Target Trader Joe's Walmart Whole Foods Market Both Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club will be open on Memorial Day. However, Costco will be closed. It is one of seven days the warehouse stores are closed, according to its website. Both Walgreens and CVS stores will be open on Memorial Day, but some of their pharmacies will be closed. It's best to check your local pharmacy for hours. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Memorial Day 2025: What is open, closed on holiday, Publix, UPS
