April 24, 2025

Woke up this morning feeling very loved by my little family and quite refreshed, so I'm carrying good vibes today. Looking at Reddit this morning also yielded some interesting things that could be shared:

Photo of Pittsburgh and the Duquesne Incline by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen (Unsplash/Instagram)

• Found out ∈ (epsilon) means "is an element of" in logic and mathematics (I vaguely remember seeing this in high school...). u/PrincessRTFM uses a good example to show how it's used.

• Apparently I also just found out a r/Mafia subreddit exists and their thread about debunking common mafia myths is a very extensive and fascinating read. Here's an example:

Did Salvatore Maranzano create the structure of the Mafia? No, this myth was started by Joe Valachi. Joseph “Joe Cargo'' Valachi was at times a member of the Lucchese, Bonanno, and Genovese Families and he famously cooperated on live TV in 1963. Valachi, unlike most Mafiosi at the time, was a Neopolitan. This is important because this shows that the Mafia wasn’t something that was deeply rooted in his family. Most Sicilians knew about the Mafia, but Valachi was unfamiliar with its Tradition. This is a reason he gets some things wrong. One example of his unfamiliarity is him saying, “[Marazano] said that there will be a Boss for every Family, then there will be a Boss of all the Bosses and that he was elected the Boss of all Bosses and then he said there will be an Underboss for all the Families and besides having an Underboss there will be a Lieutenant and then the soldiers.” Maranzano could’ve just been explaining the structure here, but Valachi seems to think Maranzano completely created a new structure. Valachi was also not inducted at a time when the Mafia operated under “normal” circumstances. He became a member at a time when the entire Mafia was at war. Of course the structure may appear different to him under those extreme conditions. David Critchley said, “it may have seemed to him that the Boss was in direct control of every soldier and every activity. The restoration of normal order may have looked like a revolutionary change.” Nicola Gentile said in his autobiography that while he was in Kansas City (he was in Kansas City from 1923-1925), he, “graduated from Mafia member to Mafia Boss.” Gentile also mentioned each family having a Consigliere, Underboss, and Boss. He said these three ranks make up the administration of a Family. Gentile even talked about the meeting Valachi mentioned, however didn’t bring up the reorganisation. This would be a huge deal if true and Gentile would’ve likely mentioned it. In conclusion, the mafia structure was not created by Maranzano, rather it has been around at least since 1907 (the year Gentile was inducted) and probably far before. [Sources found in post.]

• You can replicate bubble-wrap in a Reddit comment (courtesy of u/amelion91).

• This thread on r/Pennsylvania is very accurate, especially based on my short time there as a resident.

• Read this comment from u/Hesitation-Marx about what's going here in the U.S. I can think of very few better ways of summarizing how messed up things are and how we got here.

"The people in charge of this want power. They are enraged that they’re no longer able to abuse and exploit without pushback. This is the revenge of the antebellum slaver and the gilded age robber baron." - u/Hesitation-Marx

Otherwise, siting here listening to Michael Nyman and Brian Protheroe while focusing on work. It's been sunny lately and taking the dog out for longer walks has been a boon to my mental health. All things considered, doing alright but also might take a break from posting anything longer than journals and micro-posts in the upcoming days, since I need to focus on higher priority things for a week or two. - A.B. 4/24/2025