The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces
The Weird Times: Issue 71, September 19, 2021 (V2 #19)
A harvest moon will rise and reach its peak on September 20, just two days before the autumnal equinox that marks the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Monday's unique moon phase ushers in the first day of fall, Morgan Keith, Yahoo News, 9/18/21
Wade all life
backward to its
source which
runs too far
ahead
—Lorine Niedecker
Everything is Political
“This would be the beginning of a failed state. In failed states, widespread power, violence, and coercion replace the legally sanctioned monopoly that states have on them. When states fail, then these dynamics come into play: citizens versus citizens. Violence erupts.”—Amanda Hollis-Brusky, The Signal
“Will the Justices on today's court uphold the separation of church and state? The signs are ominous. Several Justices have already said they will reverse Roe v. Wade. President Trump said he would only appoint Justices who will reverse Roe v. Wade. Justice Barrett testified at her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that she will follow Justice Scalia who said he did not believe in the separation of church and state.” —Robert Pennoyer, retired attorney, author of: As It Was, A Memoir
On Voting Rights, There Are No Moderates in the GOP, Marc Elias, Democracy Docket, 9/13/21
“There is no place in the Republican Party for supporters of voting rights. The gun lobby may be powerful, but there are seven members of the Republican House Conference that have a failing rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA). There are none who support voting rights.”
In key states, corporate donations go overwhelmingly to legislators that oppose abortion rights, Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, Rebecca Crosby, Popular Information, 9/13/21
“After the Supreme Court let the Texas law go into effect, citing "complex and novel antecedent procedural questions," legislators in at least seven other states — Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Ohio — are reportedly considering copying Texas' approach.
Politicians in those states receive overwhelming support from the nation's largest corporations, according to new data compiled by the Sustainable Investments Institute (Si2) at the request of Popular Information. The data reveals that, across the seven states, legislators that oppose abortion rights received $5,653,225 from Fortune 250 companies in the 2020 election cycle. Legislators in those states that support abortion rights received just $1,041,194.”
How to Talk About Climate Change Across the Political Divide: Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian, has written a book that lays out strategies for discussing the climate crisis in a divided country, Eliza Griswold, New Yorker, 9/16/21
“Hayhoe has given hundreds of talks as a “climate communicator,” speaking to politically diverse audiences about climate change. She records the questions she is asked afterward, using an app, and the two most frequent are: “What gives you hope?” and “How do I talk to my [blank] about climate change?” In her new book, “Saving Us,” which comes out in September, Hayhoe sets out to answer these questions. Chapter by chapter, she lays out effective strategies for communicating about the urgency of climate change across America’s political divide.”
Why we cannot afford to ignore the American insurrectionist movement, Robert Pape, University of Chicago CPost, 8/6/21
“We found, most strikingly, that nine percent of Americans—believe the “Use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency. More than a fourth of adults agree, in varying degrees, that, “The 2020 election was stolen, and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.” …
There is remarkable consistency in the responses. Specifically, of the roughly one tenth of those who think force is justified to restore Trump, 90% also see Biden as illegitimate, and 68% also think force may be needed to preserve America’s traditional way of life.”
You got to pick up every stitch
You got to pick up every stitch
Two rabbits runnin' in the ditch
Oh no, must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch, yeah
Must be the season of the witch
—Donovan, Season of the Witch
Amy Coney Barrett wants you to know she isn't a partisan hack: Please allow me to tell you how full of shit she is, Lucian Truscott IV, Newsletter, 9/13/21
“This is the con the right-wing has been running for decades. They pretend that all they are interested in is their favorite legal “philosophy” like “originalism” while they work assiduously behind the scenes to pack courts all over the nation with arch-conservative Christian judges and fill law firms with arch-conservative Christian lawyers who will work for arch-conservative legal foundations like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council, and then scream bloody murder if anyone accuses them of partisanship.”
Still miles apart: Americans and the state of U.S. democracy half a year into the Biden presidency, Bright Line Watch
Culture and Art
Triumph and Tragedy: On Being a Mets Fan… and Being a Mankiewicz: Nick Davis on His Renowned Family and the Mysteries That Still Remain, Nick Davis, Lithub, 9/13/21
“Being a fan of a sports team is a lot like being a member of a family.
You love them, you hate them, but you can’t escape them.
In my case, I have no memory of life before I was a Mets fan, and no memory of not being a Mankiewicz.”
Missouri cave with ancient Native American drawings sold, Jim Salter, AP News, 9/14/21
BAD ATTITUDE: The Art of Spain Rodriguez: Watch BAD ATTITUDE in-person and online at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Online Oct. 7-17
Meet the YouTubers determined to find lost media: From old cartoons to a Mean Girls game, Brendan Bell, The Verge, 9/16/21
“Online, there’s a lost media community dedicated to preserving everything from unaired television pilots to unreleased video game prototypes. Currently, the lost media community exists on both YouTube and the Lost Media wiki, an archive of thousands of lost media topics.”
The Novels of N. Scott Momaday, Chelsea T. Hicks, Paris Review, 9/13/21
“Momaday’s greatest contribution as a novelist has been to indigenize the American literary canon. As he wrote in 2020, “My writing is supported by considerable experience. In Arizona I have seen the Navajo Yeibichai and heard the haunting chants of the mountain gods. In Moscow I have seen numerous commuters reading books of poetry on the Metro … In Siberia I have heard the Khanty songs of the bear ceremony. And in London I have heard the words of Shakespeare and Ben Johnson.” His aesthetic is inclusive, encompassing European and American realism as well as traditional Native orality, bridging contemporary American life.”
‘How is Pauli Murray not a household name?’ The extraordinary life of the US’s most radical activist: She explored her gender and sexuality in the 20s, defied segregation in the 40s and inspired Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Now, a film is bringing her trailblazing achievements to light, Steve Rose, The Guardian, 9/17/21
East of New York
for Tamim Ansary
Fifty thousand crickets crying at the moon
And I’m down here doing the translation.
Moon, they say, straight to its face,
We watched you flank Afghanistan this evening,
Grinding the Panshir Valley underfoot
Without a comment, gaining weight
All night while granting nothing
Even to these rebels laid out on the road.
Who else but you could turn Orion pale
Or flash a more complacent smile? Only
The two-leggèd ones match your cool indifference.
Staring up at you they see— a face.
Fighting in the mountains and the valleys,
The columns of the missing keep on growing.
While you, enormous eye, so human,
Go about your business without blinking—
Acquiring size as they increase in number,
Crossing the ecliptic like a side street,
Blotting Venus, magnifying Mars,
Accompanied by clouds and by our outcry!
—Michael Wolfe
Science and Climate
Biologists identify new targets for cancer vaccines: Vaccinating against certain proteins found on cancer cells could help to enhance the T cell response to tumors, Anne Trafton, MIT News, 9/15/21
“In a new finding that may help researchers decide what proteins to include in cancer vaccines, MIT researchers have found that vaccinating against certain cancer proteins can boost the overall T cell response and help to shrink tumors in mice.”
Illegal logging reaches Amazon’s untouched core, ‘terrifying’ research shows, Juliana Ennes, MongaBay, 9/15/21
Experimental reactor could hand China the holy grail of nuclear energy, Didi Tang, Sunday Times, 9/16/21
IN THROUGH THE NOSE...COVID-19 Nasal Vaccine Candidate Effective at Preventing Disease Transmission, Laurie Frickman, University of Houston
These scientists want to bring back the woolly mammoth. Ethicists aren’t so sure, Caroline Anders, Washington Post, 9/16/21
Scientists created the world's whitest paint. It could eliminate the need for air conditioning, Doyle Rice, USA Today, 9/17/21
Migratory birds found to be flying much higher than expected – new research, Sissel Sjoberg, The Conversation, 9/13/21
New study shows drawbacks of deforestation across New England and New York, Emma Cotton, VT Digger, 9/15/21
Scientists can now assemble entire genomes on their personal computers in minutes, Cell Press, Science Daily, 9/14/21
‘Dramatically more powerful’: world’s first battery-electric freight train unveiled: Wabtec shows off locomotive amid fresh attempt by some US lawmakers to slash carbon emissions from rail transport, Oliver Milman, The Guardian, 9/16/21
Our Electric Road-Trip Future Looks a Lot Like Buc-ee's: The U.S. will need the kind of highway charging stops that make drivers want to hang out for half an hour, and this Texas big-box retail chain may have the right formula, Conor Sen, Bloomberg News, 9/14/21
How to end the American obsession with driving: To fight climate change, cities need to be designed with much more walking, biking, and public transit use in mind, Gabby Birenbaum, Vox, 9/12/21
‘Neurograins’ Could be the Next Brain-Computer Interfaces: Dozens of microchips scattered over the cortical surface might allow researchers to listen in on thousands of neurons at the same time, Emily Mullin, Wired, 9/13/21
Global action on harmful PFAS chemicals is long overdue: Study "We already know enough about the harm being caused by these very persistent substances to take action to stop all non-essential uses and to limit exposure from legacy contamination,” Christina Marusic, Environmental Health News, 9/15/21
Study: Indigenous resistance has staved off 25% of U.S. and Canada’s annual emissions: That's the pollution equivalent of approximately 400 new coal-fired power plants, Adam Mahoney, Grist, 9/10/21
This plant medicine teacher is reclaiming Anishinaabe names for species. Why that could be good for the planet: Reviving Indigenous languages could help tackle climate crisis: environmental experts, Duncan McCue, CBC, 9/12/21
The Next Chapter for Farm to School: Milling Whole Grains in the Cafeteria: A new pilot project in California is purchasing a mill for a school cafeteria, marking the next step in years-long effort to bring local, whole grains to schools around the countr, Hannah Wallace, Civil Eats, 9/10/21
Global computer usage produces twice the greenhouse gases as the aviation industry: Emissions, including from phones and other smart technology, account for almost 4pc of all greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere, Joe Pinkstone, Daily Telegraph, 9/10/21
Where federal parties stand on Canada’s sexiest emissions fix: nature-based climate solutions: Canada has a huge role to play in the global fight against the climate emergency — simply by not destroying the intact forests, grasslands and wetlands that naturally store carbon. Here’s how the major parties are leveraging everything from conservation goals to restorative agriculture to Indigenous Guardians programs in their campaign platforms, Stephanie Wood, The Narwhal, 9/16/21
Gorgeous Fossil Shows Ancient Bird With a Pair of Super-Sexy Tail Feathers: Like a peacock with its dazzling plumage, this Cretaceous bird had fancy tail feathers that likely served to attract mates, George Dvorsky, Gizmodo, 9/16/21
The saddest story of the week: World's largest sequoias wrapped in aluminum insulation as fire nears Giant Forest, Kurtis Alexander, SF Chronicle, 9/16/21
Coolest story of the week: How Māori women have reshaped New Zealand’s media through their native language, Eva Corlett, The Guardian, 9/17/21
“Aotearoa is a multicultural country. It has a bi-cultural foundation. Media organisations need to represent that better. That includes mainstream media uplifting Māori media, so they don’t just languish.”
I WAS HERE AND I LIKED IT!
It was all O.K.
I suffered.
There were scents, and flowers, and textures, beautiful women.
I was a handsome man. I invented love.
I radiated genius for those who saw me with loving eyes.
I was happy — I laughed and cried. Constantly new
sights and sounds. I trembled and sweated
at the sight of beauty. I laughed at strong
things because I loved them — wanting to kick them in
and make freedom. When I go I’M GONE.
Don’t resurrect me
or the duplicates of my atoms.
It was perfect !
I am sheer spirit.
—Michael McClure, from the introduction to Ghost Tantras, City Lights Books (1964)
Funny but not haha: (found on Twitter) “My cousin got the vaccine and 3 days later, WHAM! stepped on a lego. Not saying it’s vaccine-induced lego-foot, but do your own research.”
Summer ending, the garden beginning to decay, mosquitos desperate for blood, full moon rising. Wishing you comfort, safety, health and the strength to continue believing in the future. Send messages, and stories that inspire. Best to all.
Right now, right now
Love is everywhere
Right now, right now
Love is everywhere
“Love is Everywhere,” Wilco, from Ode to Joy (2021)
OK - now I have Donovan singing Season of the Witch in my head. Will probably go on for hours, but not unpleasant - was a great song and rendition. Thanks, David!
Appreciate everything so well selected and laid out fixing to go back to read the ones I haven't see yet. please keep on delivering these gems that are like food. Tej