The Weird Times

Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces

The Weird Times:  Issue 67, August 22, 2021 (V2 #15)

“Starting from nothing with nothing when everything else has been said” —Susan Howe

“The Hall of Fame for Catastrophic Geopolitical Decisions is concluding its first-ballot induction of the decision to nation-build in Afghanistan. After we acknowledge the recency bias, and stop blaming Biden or Trump, we can ask W to write, in chalk made from the bones of 370,000 dead souls, "I seriously fucked up" a billion times.” —Scott Galloway, No Mercy / No Malice, 8/20/21

Credit: The Freehan Family

Detroit Tigers great Bill Freehan dies at age 79 after long battle with dementia, Bill Dow, Detroit Free Press, 8/19/21

Selected to 11 All-Star Games, the five-time Gold Glove catcher played his entire career with the Tigers, appearing in 1,774 games in 1961-76.

America the Beautiful

He Taught a Ta-Nehisi Coates Essay. Then He Was Fired: Matt Hawn says he was helping his students in Blountville, Tennessee, learn to critically evaluate contemporary debates, Emma Green, The Atlantic, 8/17/21

“Tennessee recently passed anti–Critical Race Theory legislation, banning educators from teaching students that any individuals are “inherently privileged, sexist, or oppressive” based on their race or sex. This may have shaped the environment around Hawn’s firing; the bill was approved by the legislature shortly before Hawn received notification of his dismissal.”

For Some Native Americans, Pregnancy Helps Forge a Path Toward Traditional Foods: With Native Americans experiencing the nation’s second highest risk of pregnancy-related mortality, a renewed focus on traditional foods is helping them achieve healthy births while addressing ongoing traumas of colonization and food apartheid, Andi Murphy, Civil Eats, 8/17/21

“We’re not going to change everybody at once, but we can make that change in ourselves one at a time,” —Nicolle Gonzalez

‘Everybody I Know Is Pissed Off’ New polling data paint a more complicated picture about the next phase of the pandemic, Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic, 8/12/21

“While most state and national GOP leaders are focused on defending the rights of unvaccinated Americans, new polling shows that the large majority of vaccinated adults—including a substantial portion of Republicans—support tougher measures against those who have refused COVID-19 shots.”

The Bill That Could Truly, Actually Bring Back U.S. Manufacturing: And help the climate, too, Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 8/18/21

“When new technologies are in the basic research stage and decades away from reaching a market, the U.S. lavishly supports them. But when those same technologies are on the verge of commercialization and being prepared for mass production, American support drops away. No bank officer or venture capitalist will write their inventors a loan; no local manufacturing hub will help work out the final kinks in their production line.”

What the ‘Lyme wars’ can teach us about COVID-19 and how to find common ground in the school reopening debate, Abigail Dumes, The Conversation, 8/19/21

“Few scientific issues are as polarizing, which is why the current debate over how to reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic reminds me of the “Lyme wars.” The school reopening debate has often been framed as one between “disgruntled” parents and “obstinate” teachers’ unions and school administrators. But it has also divided scientists and pitted Democrats against Republicans.”

Fugitive Pedagogy: The Longer Roots of Antiracist Teaching, Jarvis R. Givens, LA Review of Books, 8/18/21

“Since the time of slavery, Black pedagogical practices were fundamentally antiracist. And this impulse among Black American educators — particularly their critique of the anti-Black color line — was merely a starting place. They teach us that antiracism is only the beginning of a liberatory education. The substance is much greater.”

Tales of Bohemian Living with The Lounge Lizards in 1979 New York: John Lurie on the Days of Sex, Drugs, and Car Crash Jazz, John Lurie, Lithub, 8/20/21

“My band, The Lounge Lizards, first played on June 4, 1979. We had two other possible names: The Sequined Eels and The Rotating Power Tools. Now I kind of wish that it had been The Rotating Power Tools. (Excerpted from THE HISTORY OF BONES by John Lurie.)

Richard D. Wolff – Explaining 21st-Century Capitalism in a Way Everyone Can Understand, Brave New Europe, 8/19/21

“History has not stopped. Every other economic system in human history was born, evolved, and ceased to exist at some point. The most reasonable expectation is that capitalism, having been born and evolved, will also cease to exist one day. Human beings have often been impatient with the economic systems they had and eager for something better. The number of people feeling that way about capitalism is rising globally. Clarifying the basics of capitalism, which is to be superseded, can help move society forward now.”

 (Ed. note: As with almost every economist I have read, this author’s critical description fails to recognize that all our economic systems are based on extraction of value from planetary resources and that failure has led to our environmental and climate disaster.)

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Circularities

I find myself

holding on

to lost things

thinking they

might save me

from my own

forgotten memories

I contemplate

my inability

to focus

stillness is a lost pose

in a dream

I am David

Bowie

though I cannot sing

instead I talk

to myself

the other

David

—David Wilk

Science

Eastern Hemlocks Face Extinction. A Tiny Fly Could Save Them: An invasive insect called the woolly adelgid is eating the Northeast’s forests alive. So some researchers are calling in hungry silver flies, Toya Teirstein, Wired, 8/14/21

“Now, the woolly adelgid is everywhere. More than half of America’s Eastern forests are infested with it—almost every state in the Eastern seaboard.”

Ice Age mammoth’s life story reconstructed in stunning detail: For the first time, scientists have translated the chemicals in an ancient tusk to reveal a prehistoric biography of unprecedented richness, Zach St. George, National Geographic, 8/12/21

“The research, published today in Science, relied on cutting-edge tools and techniques to provide clues about how woolly mammoths lived, including their possible interactions with humans.”

Israeli scientists solve physics' 'three-body problem': The three-body problem, which has been a focus of scientific study for over 400 years, represented a stumbling block for famous astronomers such as Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler, Jerusalem Post, 8/14/21

Welcome to the ‘plastisphere’: the synthetic ecosystem evolving at sea: Ocean plastic has created a unique home for specialised organisms, from animals that travel on it to bacteria that ‘eat’ it, Russell Thomas, The Guardian, 8/11/21

Scientists discover 'missing piece' in quantum computing breakthrough:Scientists from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, have announced the discovery of a major breakthrough in quantum computing, Sky News, MSN, 8/13/21

Finally, a Shot to Prevent Lyme Disease Could Be on Its Way: Lyme-carrying ticks are a bigger threat than ever. A promising new antibody treatment looks to stop infection—even after a tick bite, Andrew Zaleski, Outside, 8/16/21

Antibodies elicited by COVID-19 vaccination effective against delta variant: Findings help explain why vaccinated people at low risk during delta surge, Tamara Bhandari, Washington University School of Medicine, 8/17/21

Cystic fibrosis cure on horizon after scientists fix genetic mutation: Healthy piece of DNA can be swapped for defective code, allowing cells to function normally, Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph, 8/9/21

National Ignition Facility experiment puts researchers at threshold of fusion ignition, Breanna Bishop, Livermore Livermore National Laboratory, 8/18/21

How Endocrine Disruptors Affect Menstruation: The ubiquity of phthalates and other substances known to interfere with hormonal pathways disproportionately harms people with periods, Kate Clancy, American Scientist, Sep/Oct 2021

FORMALDEHYDE CAUSES LEUKEMIA, ACCORDING TO EPA ASSESSMENT SUPPRESSED BY TRUMP OFFICIALS: Although the formaldehyde assessment has grave implications for public health, Trump administration officials refused to allow the EPA to release it, Sharon Lerner, The Intercept, 8/19/21

Climate Changes

How the world already prevented far worse warming this century: The Montreal Protocol was designed to heal the ozone layer. It may have also fended off several degrees of warming—and a collapse of forests and croplands, James Temple, MIT Technology Review, 8/18/21

“In 1987, dozens of nations adopted the Montreal Protocol, agreeing to phase out the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other chemicals used in refrigerants, solvents, and other industrial products that were breaking down Earth’s protective ozone layer.

It was a landmark achievement, the most successful example of nations pulling together in the face of a complex, collective threat to the environment. Three decades later, the atmospheric ozone layer is slowly recovering, preventing additional levels of ultraviolet radiation that cause cancer, eye damage, and other health problems.”

Sweden's HYBRIT delivers world's first fossil-free steel, Reuters, 8/19/21

“Swedish green steel venture HYBRIT said on Wednesday that it had made the world's first customer delivery of steel produced without using coal as it looks to revolutionize an industry that accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

Why is life on Earth still taking second place to fossil fuel companies? George Monbiot, The Guardian, 8/19/21

“The human tragedy is that there is no connection between what we know and what we do. Almost everyone is now at least vaguely aware that we face the greatest catastrophe our species has ever confronted. Yet scarcely anyone alters their behaviour in response: above all, their driving, flying and consumption of meat and dairy.”

4 ways to make solar panels more sustainable: Solar panels provide the largest and cheapest source of renewable energy. But there is still room to reduce the high emissions created when building solar power infrastructure, Gero Rueter, DW.com, 8/17/21

“…depending on the panel and installation site, photovoltaics can generate as much energy as was used in their production within five to 25 months.”

Artists are creating interactive music videos to show the effects of climate change, A.J. Dellinger, mic.com, 8/17/21

“Undercurrent seeks to take the emotional power of music and pair it with visual art in a way that will give people a new perspective on the climate crisis. Opening in a 60,000-square-foot studio space in Brooklyn, Undercurrent is pairing some of the most noteworthy names in music with climate-focused nonprofit organizations to create interactive 3D music videos. These videos are meant to draw attention to all the ways the planet is changing around us, with the goal of motivating us to take action.”

An ancient era of global warming could hint at our scorching future: Looking back at the strange and sweaty days of the PETM, Riley Black, Popular Science, 8/16/21

“Paleontologists call this hot spot the Paleocene-​Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). It’s a time when subtropical forests spread over the continents and new animals got to stake their claims on the planet, all thanks to an atmosphere and oceans in turmoil. This part of the fossil record is a remnant of the past, but it may also be a preview of our future.”

Imagining the climate-proof home in the US: using the least energy possible from the cleanest sources: Solar energy use will become more common as power use becomes smarter and more automated, Oliver Milman, The Guardian, 8/16/21

“Dealing with the climate crisis involves the overhauling of many facets of life, but few of these changes will feel as tangible and personal as the transformation required within the home.”

Hawaiians Look to Tradition to Cope With Climate Change, Mike O’Sullivan, VOA News, 8/15/21

“They say reviving traditional values can reduce the damage by limiting coastal erosion, reversing the rising acidity of coastal waters and lessening flooding from intense storms.”

OCEAN CONSERVATION: 6 REASONS YOU CAN BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANET: It’s not all doomsday scenarios, Eric Bender, Inverse, 8/15/21

“There are a lot of successes out there, and most people don’t know about them,” Knowlton says. It’s important to share those successes, she adds, to avoid paralyzing feelings of hopelessness and to spread the knowledge of approaches that work.

(Ed note: Here is an opportunity to take action on an important issue.)

The timber and biotechnology industries selected the GE American chestnut as a Trojan Horse designed to pave the way for industrial plantations of GE trees and other GMOs that industry wants to release into the environment. You can help stop them.

Please submit a comment before the September 7 deadline telling the USDA they must REJECT this risky and unpredictable GE tree.  Simply go to:

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/APHIS-2020-0030-4324

Read the details and documentation in the white paper Biotechnology For Forest Health? The Test Case of the Genetically Engineered American Chestnut.

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Bats and Birds

A greater sac-winged bat pup babbling in its day roost. Michael Stifter, CC BY-ND

Bat pups babble and bat moms use baby talk, hinting at the evolution of human language, Ahana Aurora Fernandez, The Conversation, 8/19/21

“Luckily, in Central America’s tropical jungle, there’s a mammal that engages in a very conspicuous vocal practice behavior that is strongly reminiscent of human infant babbling: the neotropical greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata. The pups of this small bat, dark-furred with two prominent white wavy stripes on the back, engage in daily babbling behavior during large parts of their development.

Greater sac-winged bats possess a large vocal repertoire that includes 25 distinct syllable types. A syllable is the smallest acoustic unit, defined as a sound surrounded by silence. These adult bats create multisyllabic vocalizations and two song types.”

Birds’ Eye Size Predicts Vulnerability to Habitat Loss: A lost “treasure trove” of bird samples reveals how eye shape changes with environment, Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 9/21 issue

“In 1982 University of Chicago graduate student Stanley Ritland, using pickled museum specimens, meticulously measured the eyeballs of nearly 2,800 species—a third of all terrestrial birds. He never published his data, but Ian Ausprey, a graduate student at the University of Florida and the Florida Museum of Natural History, has just given it a second look. Ausprey's analysis, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, supports previous work in Peru showing that smaller-eyed birds adapt better to changing habitats.”

Planes four times as likely to hit birds during migrations, Pat Leonard, Cornell Chronicle, 8/19/21

“The risk of airplanes colliding with birds jumps by as much as 400% during periods of migration, according to new research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and partners, who have been looking for patterns in bird-strike data from three New York City-area airports.”

St Kilda's rare seabirds are tagged and tracked, BBC News, 8/20/21

“RSPB scientists spent a month catching and tagging Leach's storm petrels on the remote St Kilda archipelago over the summer.

The group of islands and rocky sea stacks west of North Uist in the Western Isles hosts 94% of the UK population of the starling-sized bird - the largest colony in the northeast Atlantic.”

60 birds — species previously extinct in state — will be reintroduced to Ozarks, MDC says, Sara Karnes, Springfield News-Leader, 8/20/21

“Pine woodlands were restored in Mark Twain National Forest, making the necessary habitat for brown-headed nuthatches. The songbird is about four inches long. They are non-migratory, year-round birds.”

The Cook's petrel. | Credit: Hugh Ranson

Santa Barbara Birding: The Magic of the Pelagic: Ocean Birding Has Its Challenges but Also Potentially Great Rewards, Hugh Ranson, SB Independent, 8/16/21

Pelagic birding is one of the most difficult types of birding because the birds are often distant, appearing and disappearing behind swells, and seen from a sometimes violently moving platform. Many of the species, which spend most of their lives out on the open ocean, rarely venturing close to land except to breed, are also very similar in appearance so that either excellent views or photographs are necessary for proper identification.

What Moves Us

Words and me: Writing came naturally to me after several thousand practice runs, Lucian Truscott IV, Newsletter, 8/18/21

“Writers use words the way a carpenter uses nails, because without nails there wouldn’t be a wall or a floor or a window frame or anything else the carpenter builds.  Same with writers:  without words, the writer couldn’t build whatever is being written, whether it’s a book or a screenplay or a short story or a poem or a column.

But words don’t turn into the walls or windows or floors of a piece without being nailed together into sentences.  I think of sentences as what I use to build what I write.  You can find words in a dictionary or a  thesaurus or a rhyming dictionary or even an old fashioned phone book, but you can’t find sentences in any of those places.  Sentences are what I do.”

Merrick Garland must investigate Donald Trump’s attempted coup — not for retribution but for deterrence: For nearly all of us, a solid factual basis that one has committed a federal crime — much less inciting an insurrection against the government itself — would trigger a criminal investigation. So why the hesitation by the US attorney general? Lawrence Tribe, Boston Globe, 8/20/21

“We need to begin with the fundamental precept that not all crimes are created equal. Those crimes — regardless of who allegedly commits them — whose very aim is to overturn a fair election whereby our tradition of peaceful, lawful succession from one administration to the next takes place — a tradition begun by George Washington, continued by John Adams, and preserved by every president since except Donald Trump — are impossible to tolerate if we are to survive as a constitutional republic.”

Surprise: Fox News Hosts Are Following Strict COVID Protocols While Telling Viewers Masks and Vaccines Are Liberal Plots: It’s almost as though they treat their audience like gullible idiots, Bess Levin, Vanity Fair, 8/19/21 

“Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, Hannity had Florida governor Ron DeSantis—under whose stewardship Florida has become a COVID-infested hellhole—for a fact-free discussion about vaccines that included the claim that the shots are “not protecting many people,” when in fact they’re protecting 99.999% of them.”

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga sing “I Get a Kick Out of You”

My story is much too sad to be told
But practically everything leaves me totally cold
The only exception I know is the case
When I'm out on a quiet spree
Fighting vainly the old ennui
And I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face

—Lyrics by Cole Porter

As then-Hurricane, now tropical storm-Henri was barreling toward Connecticut, I was planning to make an abbreviated version of today’s collection of stories. As of Sunday morning, we still have power, and while we are expecting high winds, an unusually high tide on top of a storm surge producing massive flooding, I had time to put together this overlong post. My ability to edit has become severely challenged as the news-filled weeks go by. I left out a large swath of stories I thought would be thought-provoking, and still this is almost too long to email.

In any case, please continue to be careful, as the Delta variant surge shows no sign of abating, and if you are someplace that is under water today or tomorrow, stay safe. We don’t have a boat, so if the waters rise, we’ll head to the attic. Send news when you can. If you are on the east coast, stay dry! If you are in the west, pray for rain! Best to all.