The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces
The Weird Times: Issue 85, December 26, 2021 (V2 #33)
On New Yorker Cartoonist Ed Koren’s Sketches for the End Times, Howard Norman, LitHub, 12/13/21: ““I’ve given the drawings somewhat pessimistic and even forbidding titles, like ‘Thinking About Extinction,’” Koren said. “But had I provided more existential captions, it might finally have been the same for each one: ‘Who were we and what were we thinking?’” Buy In the Wild at Bookshop.org
“We all live in the past.”—Bob Lefsetz
Drag the boxes from the closet.
Pray to the patron saint of lost causes.
The lights all work, no fuses broken.
Emotions heighten, tears come easy.
Tighten your belt, go overspending.
Let's pack a suitcase and get on out of here.
Let's get away from Christmas this year
—Amanda Shires, Let’s Get Away
How Christmas became an American holiday tradition, with a Santa Claus, gifts and a tree, Thomas Adam, The Conversation, 12/6/21: “The most significant steps toward integrating Christmas into popular American culture came in the context of the American Civil War. In January 1863 Harper’s Weekly published on its front page the image of Santa Claus visiting the Union Army in 1862. This image, which was produced by the German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast, represents the very first image of Santa Claus.”
Science and Climate News
The pandemic is a warning: we must take care of the earth, our only home: The climate crisis resembles a huge planetary lockdown, trapping humanity within an ever-deteriorating environment, Bruno Latour, The Guardian, 12/24/21: “Gone is the infinite space; now you are responsible for the safety of this overbearing dome as much as you are for your own health and wealth. It weighs on you, body and soul. To survive under these new conditions we have to undergo a sort of metamorphosis.”
US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say: Within weeks, Walter Reed researchers expect to announce that human trials show success against Omicron—and even future strains, Tara Copp, Defense One, 12/21/21: “Unlike existing vaccines, Walter Reed’s SpFN uses a soccer ball-shaped protein with 24 faces for its vaccine, which allows scientists to attach the spikes of multiple coronavirus strains on different faces of the protein.”
Genomic sequencing: Here’s how researchers identify omicron and other COVID-19 variants, Andre Hudson, Crista Wadsworth, The Conversation, 12/20/21
Dark genome may hold key to treating bipolar disorder, Rhys Blakely, The Times of London, 12/23/21: “Our cells also harbour vast amounts of genetic material that exist alongside these recognised genes, the function of which is not well understood. This is the so-called dark genome, an enigmatic string of biological hieroglyphics that has also been called “junk DNA”. A study led by scientists at Cambridge University set out to explore the dark genome.”
How bringing back the wild yam is feeding the hungry in drought-hit Madagascar, Patrick Greenfield, The Guardian, 12/19/21
How Marine Protected Areas Can Pay for Their Own Protection: The area right next to a marine protected area is a prime fishing spot—and researchers think fishermen will pay to access it, Greg Noone, Hakai Magazine, 12/21/21
Competition underway to develop carbon-capture centres in Alberta, Kyle Bakx, CBC News, 12/22/21
The US could reliably run on clean energy by 2050: A new simulation highlights the stability of wind, solar, and water power, Nikita Amir, Popular Science, 12/20/21
The Essential Advocate, Philippe Sands Makes the Case for a New International Crime Called Ecocide: The British lawyer and author has held Nazis and presidents accountable for crossing the moral red line. Now, he argues, the time has come to pursue those who commit crimes against the environment, Katie Surma, Inside Climate News, 12/22/21
This Startup Is Making—and Programming—Human Cells: Creating bespoke cells could transform testing and help develop new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Matt Reynolds, Wired, 12/20/21
One farmer's seaweed discovery could help slow methane emissions — and change the world, CBS News, 12/18/21: “"They [researchers] found out that feeding seaweed to cattle would reduce greenhouse gases by as high as 40%” (Ed. Note, this is one of those “holy shit” revelations, isn’t it?): “In a year, a cow emits as much greenhouse gas as a small car. Because animal numbers have skyrocketed to help feed a growing human population, livestock now accounts for 15% of global emissions.”
In A.R.T.'s 'WILD: A Musical Becoming,' children face off against adults in the climate change fight, Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR, 12/15/21
‘Seed Savers Network’ helps Kenyan farmers adapt to erratic weather: Droughts and severe downpours are making farming more difficult than in the past, YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 12/21/21
‘What we need is multiple solutions’ to solve water crisis, Jessica Hill, Las Vegas Sun, 12/19/21
How melting sea ice increases wildfire risk in the Northwest, Courtney Flatt, OPB, 12/19/21
Sea-level rise threatens Gullah Geechee land, way of life. They have a plan to save it: Facing threats to their land through tourism-fueled development and sea-level rise, the Gullah Geechee culture are under siege from enemies both existential and real, Zoe Nicholson, Savannah Morning News, 12/14/21
This Scientist Created a Rapid Test Just Weeks Into the Pandemic. Here’s Why You Still Can’t Get It: Irene Bosch developed a quick, inexpensive COVID-19 test in early 2020. The Harvard-trained scientist already had a factory set up. But she was stymied by an FDA process experts say made no sense, Lydia DePillis, ProPublica, 12/21/21
COVID-19: Research unmasks the environmental impact of PPE, Jessica Norris, Medical News Today, 12/14/21
In Deep Adaptation’s Focus on Societal Collapse, a Hopeful Call to Action: British academic Jem Bendell’s paper is a “Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy.” But many of its proponents embrace its precepts out of a “deep love for this planet,” Kiley Bense, Inside Climate News, 12/24/21: “I feel like we’ve made a tremendous mess of things, and it was completely unnecessary, and I’m basically livid with anger,” he says. “But there’s not even a tiny part of me that feels like giving up.”
Here Are The Most Powerful Photos Of 2021: This year was marked by incredible moments of perseverance and hope amid overlapping tragedies. These are the pictures that defined 2021, Pia Peterson, Kate Bubacz, Buzzfeed, 12/21/21
Beavers March North Into Arctic: 'Tundra Be Dammed,’ Hannah Osborne, Newsweek, 12/21/21: “By building ponds on the tundra, beavers increase the amount of surface water—a change that causes permafrost, which is permanently frozen ground, to thaw. As this happens, organic material trapped away for thousands of years begins to break down, releasing methane and carbon dioxide in the process.”
Nasa launches $10bn James Webb space telescope: Successor to the Hubble telescope takes off on board rocket from ESA’s launch base in French Guiana, Robin McKie, The Guardian, 12/25/21
Bird Talk
A dinosaur embryo, exceptionally preserved in an egg about to hatch, reveals links to birds, Amy Cheng, Washington Post, 12/22/21
Maine’s sparrows are being wiped out by mercury and climate change, Sam Schipani, Bangor Daily News, 12/21/21
Spectacularly Rare, Enormous Eagle Shows Up in North America, 5,000 Miles From Home, Fiona MacDonald, Science Alert, 12/22/21: “Bird watchers in Massachusetts have been given an early Christmas present in the form of an incredibly rare sighting – a Steller's sea eagle, which is native to Asia almost 8,000 km (5,000 miles) away.”
Some Eurasian Blackcaps Are Flipping Migration, Flying North for Winter, Mark Devokaitas, All About Birds, 12/22/21
The Poetry Project’s 48th Annual New Year’s Day Marathon: Tune in
Compassion
Next
Have compassion for everyone you meet,
even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit,
bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign
of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen.
You do not know what wars are going on
down there where the spirit meets the bone.
—Miller Williams, from The Ways We Touch: Poems
broken down shacks engine parts
could tell a lie but my heart would know
listen to the dogs barkin in the yard
car wheels on a gravel road
child in the backseat about four or five years
lookin' out the window
little bit of dirt mixed with tears
—Lucinda Williams, from Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Politickle
Report shows the extent of Republican efforts to sabotage democracy: Research identifies at least 262 bills were introduced in 41 states this year with the intent to hijack the election process, Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, 12/24/21: “The Republican assault on free and fair elections instigated by Donald Trump is gathering pace, with efforts to sabotage the normal workings of American democracy sweeping state legislatures across the US.”
Is There a Smoking Gun in the January 6th Investigation? As the Democrats discover what Mark Meadows, Donald Trump, and others did, experts say they must also enact reforms to safeguard democracy—while they still control Congress, David Rohde, The New Yorker, 12/15/21
America is now in fascism’s legal phase, The history of racism in the US is fertile ground for fascism. Attacks on the courts, education, the right to vote and women’s rights are further steps on the path to toppling democracy, Jason Stanley, The Guardian, 12/22/21
The Paperwork Coup: A much more dangerous insurrection was under way in the inboxes of Trump’s inner circle in the weeks before January 6, David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 12/15/21: “It was coherent, and if a few things had happened differently—most especially, if Vice President Mike Pence had gone along with it—the result would have been chaos at the least and possibly a second Trump term and widespread conflict at worst.”
US conservative parents push for book bans – and unintentionally make reading cool again: Narratives about race, gender and inequality are being banned around the US – but sales are rising as the frenzy appears to cause the opposite effect, Luke Winkie, The Guardian, 12/23/21
Gabriel Boric: From student protest leader to Chile's president, BBC News, 12/20/21 (Ed. Note: this is really a big deal. If you read Nancy Maclean’s Democracy in Chains, you will learn that the Koch brothers helped engineer a constitution in Chile that helped reduce democracy there so much, it has taken 40 years for change to re-emerge.): “he ran on a platform promising radical reforms to the free-market economic model imposed by former dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet. One that, he says, is the root of the country's deep inequality, imbalances that came to the surface during protests in 2019 that triggered an official redraft of the constitution.”
‘We’re not backing down’: the Texas church fighting for abortion rights: In the face of a draconian abortion ban in effect for more than three months, the mission has only grown stronger for a progressive congregation, Mary Tuma, The Guardian, 12/20/21
How Black Communities Become “Sacrifice Zones” for Industrial Air Pollution: One of the most dangerous chemical plants in America sits in one of West Virginia’s only majority-Black communities. For decades, residents of Institute have raised alarms about air pollution. They say concerns have “fallen on deaf ears,” Ken Ward Jr., ProPublica, 12/21/21
Low-income Coloradans cut utility bills through community solar program: Energy Outreach Colorado helps people make efficiency improvements and get connected to solar power, YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 12/23/21
Democrats Need to Suck It Up: In order to avert a catastrophe for democracy, the party must get over its Joe Manchin problem ahead of the 2022 midterms, Walter Shapiro, New Republic, 12/23/21
‘We need a new commons’: how city life can offer us the vital power of connection. The pandemic has seen borders close and divisions widened. But in almost all aspects of life, humanity will only thrive by coming together, Suketo Mehta, The Guardian, 12/23/21: “Humanity has now splintered off into a divide as absurd and arbitrary as left- and right-hand drive. We’ve lost the ability, which great literature gifts us, to differentiate between individual human beings in a group or class. We classify people in huge categories: blacks, whites, migrants, trans, feminists, police, Democrats, Republicans. And then each member of that category has to walk around with the heavy weight of this classification on their head. Within each group, we are assumed to be fungible. The individual human being is complex – much more complex than the virus. Diversity, or heterogeneity, will save us. Unpredictability, or even eccentricity, will help. We are creatures of moral complexity.”
“We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil. . .preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work and the love we give our fragile craft.” —Adlai Stevenson in last speech, five days before he died, 1965
Literary Birthdays
Jean Toomer, 12/26/1894
Wilfred Sheed, 12/27/1930
Manuel Puig, 12/28/1932
Paul Bowles, 12/30/1910
Clarence Major, 12/31/1936
Poets passing:
This is a wonderful poem
Come at it carefully, don't trust it, that isn't its right name,
It's wearing stolen rags, it's never been washed, its breath
Would look moss-green if it were really breathing,
It won't get out of the way, it stares at you
Out of eyes burnt gray as the sidewalk,
Its skin is overcast with colorless dirt,
It has no distinguishing marks, no I.D. cards,
It wants something of yours but hasn't decided
Whether to ask for it or just take it,
There are no policemen, no friendly neighbors,
No peacekeeping busybodies to yell for, only this
Thing standing between you and the place you were headed,
You have about thirty seconds to get past it, around it,
Or simply to back away and try to forget it,
It won't take no for an answer: try hitting it first
And you'll learn what's trembling in its torn pocket.
Now, what do you want to do about it?
—David Wagoner, 6/5/26-12/18/21
Now, as I sink in sleep,
My heart is cut down,
Nothing—poetry nor love—
Achieving.
—from “Night Songs,” Thomas Kinsella, 5/4/28-12/22/21
Can't be late
It's a rising tide
Like an hour glass
Running out of time
So what do you say?
What will you decide?
It's a win or lose
On a rolling die
—Lucius, “Until We Get There” written by Jess Wolfe, Dan Molad & Holly Laessig
It seems almost everyone I know is wondering what will happen next. Will this endless Covid thing ever end? Will we be able to heal ourselves from the uniquely American version of fascism that also virus-like, seems to be never-ending, mutating constantly to create yet more threats to how we live, to the freedom we have taken for granted? And just as we have taken for granted air and water, our entire world is threatened by unsustainable human behavior. Can we change quickly enough to prevent catastrophe?
We know these threats are all connected, and they all appear almost impossible to overcome. But we must choose to hope, to act, and to never stop believing in our future. Like Patrick Gaspard, who is now chief of the Center for American Progress, I choose to be “radically optimistic.” In the end, there is no other choice.
So take care of yourselves, be with the ones you love, and take from that love the strength to carry forward. Be mindful of what really matters. We are all in - all in all in all. Time carries on regardless, the new year awaits. Be well all.
No Matter, Never Mind
The Father is the Void
The Wife Waves
Their child is Matter.
Matter makes it with his mother
And their child is Life,
a daughter.
The Daughter is the Great Mother
Who, with her father/brother Matter
as her lover,
Gives birth to the Mind.
—Gary Snyder, Turtle Island
