The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces
The Weird Times: Issue 88, January 16, 2022 (V2 #36)
Ronnie Spector, pop singer who fronted the Ronettes, dies aged 78: Influential singer of hits including Be My Baby, who married abusive producer Phil Spector, dies of cancer, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian, 1/12/22
“Sometimes I get the queerest feeling that things going on in the world around one, are in some odd way reflections of things happening in the depths of one’s own mind. It is almost as if the world gets calm as you keep calm yourself, and vice versa. Yet it would be absurd to imagine that one could actually control the course of events in that way because this would imply the belief that oneself alone is real and all else a figment of thought. But it convinces me more and more that there is a universe inside one, which contains Hitler and all forms of human madness as well as love and beauty.” —Alan Watts, 1941
“I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and for bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism,” —Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, 1933
“The hundreds of millions of ‘modern democracy’ show as much ability to protect their minds from subjugation and arrest the advancing disaster, which will enslave, torture, mutilate and destroy the greater proportion of them, as a train load of hogs bound for Chicago.” —from Predictions for 1981, H.G. Wells, London Observer, 1931
“I think the tragedy is that we have a Congress with a Senate that has a minority of misguided senators who will use the filibuster to keep the majority of people from even voting.” —Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963
Science & Climate
Microbes in The Ocean Depths Can Make Oxygen Without Sun. This Discovery Could Be Huge, David Nield, Science Alert, 1/11/22: “Scientists have found that a microbe called Nitrosopumilus maritimus and several of its cousins, called ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA), are able to survive in dark, oxygen-depleted environments by producing oxygen on their own. They do so using a biological process that hasn't been seen before.”
Detailed Footage Finally Reveals What Triggers Lightning: The first detailed observations of lightning's emergence inside a cloud have exposed how electric fields grow strong enough to let bolts fly, Thomas Lewton, Wired, 1/9/22
Fusion energy is a reason to be excited about the future: It’s been a long road, but recent advances mean we’re closing in on a game-changing technology, Umair Irfan, Vox, 1/6/22
This AI Software Nearly Predicted Omicron’s Tricky Structure: New algorithms that decipher complex sequences of amino acids offered an early view of the coronavirus variant. They could point the way to future drugs, Tom Simonite, Wired, 1/10/22
Landmark Webb observatory is now officially a telescope: The observatory has flawlessly unfurled its mirrors and sunshield — although more steps are needed before the science can begin, Alexandra Witze, Nature, 1/8/22
Scientists Capture Airborne Animal DNA for the First Time: Researchers filtered the air around two zoos and identified genetic material from dozens of species, a technique that could help track and conserve wildlife, Eric Niiler, Wired, 1/10/22
Physicists detect a hybrid particle held together by uniquely intense “glue”: The discovery could offer a route to smaller, faster electronic devices, Jennifer Chu, MIT News, 1/10/22
Japan takes superconducting power transmission leap: Japan Railway-affiliate develops power cable coated with liquid nitrogen, Nikkei staff, Nikkei Asia, 1/12/22
Study Challenges Evolutionary Theory That DNA Mutations Are Random: Findings Could Lead to Advances in Plant Breeding, Human Genetics, Emily C. Dooley, UC Davis, 1/12/22: “The findings, published today in the journal Nature, radically change our understanding of evolution and could one day help researchers breed better crops or even help humans fight cancer.” (Ed. Note: unless I am reading this incorrectly, it is a really big deal – and here’s another:)
The Large Hadron Collider blips that could herald a new era of physics: Hints of a new particle carrying a fifth force of nature have been multiplying at the LHC – and many physicists are convinced this could finally be the big one, Harry Cliff, New Scientist, 1/12/22: “If these quarks are acting as they appear to be, then we are not only seeing the influence of an unknown force of nature, but perhaps also the outline of a new, unified theory of particles and forces.”
Astrophysicists Release the Biggest Map of the Universe Yet: A powerful astronomy instrument called DESI charts millions of galaxies in the night sky. Can it help scientists finally figure out what dark energy is? Ramin Skibba, Wired, 1/13/22
America needs more basic research: We're not in a crisis, but we could benefit from spending more, Noah Smith, Noahpinion, 1/13/22: “Science spending isn’t in crisis, but we should do more anyway.”
Fastest DNA sequencing technique helps undiagnosed patients find answers in mere hours: A research effort led by Stanford scientists set the first Guinness World Record for the fastest DNA sequencing technique, which was used to sequence a human genome in just 5 hours and 2 minutes, Hanae Armitage, Stanford News, 1/12/22
I was duped by the Covid lab leak deniers: That senior scientists saw evidence for theories that they trashed in public has shattered trust in science, Matt Ridley, The Telegraph, 1/13/33
Cannabis compounds might prevent COVID-19 infection, study shows, Katherine Rodriguez, NJ News, 1/13/22: “Researchers from Oregon State University discovered the two chemical compounds commonly found in hemp — cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) — had the potential to keep COVID-19 from forming.”
Across the Boreal Forest, Scientists Are Tracking Warming’s Toll: From Minnesota to the Northwest Territories, researchers are studying dramatic changes in the vast northern forests: thawing permafrost, drowned trees, methane releases, increased wildfires, and the slow transformation of these forests from carbon sinks to carbon emitters, Ed Struzik, Yale Environment 360, 1/11/22
An Amazon Defender Stands Up for Her Land and Her People: Amazon Indigenous leader Juma Xipaia has fought against massive dam projects and the incursion of illegal loggers and miners onto her community’s lands. In a Yale e360 interview, she explains why what’s at stake is the survival of her people and their millennia-old way of life, Jill Langlois, Yale Environment 360, 1/13/22
How Female Fishers Are Leading Their Communities through the Pandemic: Research shows that, at the pandemic’s onset, female leaders in Brazil’s fishing communities took the threat more seriously than men—and leapt into action, Eduardo Campos Lima, Hakai, 1/13/22
What to expect from the world's sixth mass extinction: Humans alive today are witnessing the beginning of the first mass extinction in 65 million years. What does biodiversity loss mean for us and the environment? Alistair Walsh, DW, 1/11/22
America’s Top Environmental Groups Have Lost the Plot on Climate Change: A guest post, Wally Nowinski, Noahpinion, 1/14/22
Demand for electric vehicles to cause battery supply chain bottleneck, analyst says: Lithium, cobalt, and nickel are used in the production of most EV batteries, YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 1/11/22
Culture Art Books Reading Social Change
Look around you. The way we live explains why we are increasingly polarized: In 2016, I set out to understand why a border wall appealed to so many. I realized Americans are increasingly boxing themselves in – with vast impacts on the way we see the world, Anand Pandian, The Guardian, 1/16/22
Toni Morrison’s Ten Steps Towards Fascism, Jason Kottke, Kottke.org, 1/11/22: “See also Umberto Eco’s 14 Features of Eternal Fascism and Fighting Authoritarianism: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century.” (via jason stanley)
Americans Reading Fewer Books Than in Past, Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup, 1/10/22: “Average number of books read down to 12.6 from 15.6 in 2016; Percentage reading any books is stable; fewer are reading more than 10; College graduates show largest decline in number of books read.”
Fave Little State: Climate Migrants From Around America Are Seeking Refuge in Vermont, Kevin McCallum, Seven Days, 1/12/22
Jericho Brown on Claude McKay’s Subversive, Foundational Poems of Love and Protest: “In Harlem Shadows McKay used form to inscribe the fact of his own Blackness,” Jericho Brown, LitHub, 1/11/22
The Artist’s Way at 30: Alicia Keys, Pete Townshend and the surprising re-birth of a creativity classic: Three decades after it was first published, Julia Cameron’s creativity manual was a lockdown hit. Could we all learn from her guide to ‘artistic recovery’? Sam Jordison, The Guardian, 1/14/22
What if we fund artists the way we fund startups?: Angel investments could fund the next Renaissance, Elle Griffin, The Novelleist, 1/10/22: “Here’s my pitch: We create an angel investment fund that will directly fund artists, providing a minimum salary so that they can quit their day jobs and create art, but with the caveat that those artists also have to also produce a salary on their own using creator economy principals.”
An exhibition at the 92nd Street Y in NYC: BECOMING FUTURE, curated by Stephanie Diamond. “We are in imagination battles when we choose to live our own truths,” adrienne maree brown wrote, “We are already imagining the future into existence with every choice we make.”
Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
in the dark hallway i throw
my head back like frankie
lymon and little anthony.
my young voice failing at
falsetto and trying too hard
to love. it will be like this when
i’m older, when a woman
won’t answer my calls from
the phone booth. even now
i’m down to my last dime
and it hurts so bad.
--E. Ethelbert MillerWhy Do Fools Fall in Love, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, 1956
Birds Do More than Make Us Feel Good
Lead ammo hampers the bald eagle rebound in the Northeast US: Bald eagle numbers are encouraging but ingesting lead ammunition is still killing large numbers, researchers find, Brian Bienkowski, Environmental Health News, 1/14/22
Hey, birders! Our feathered friends aren’t as eager to get a close look at you, Bob Duchesne, Bangor Daily News, 1/12/22: “The obvious question is: How close is too close? The short answer is: If the bird is watching you, you’re too close.”
Loss of seed-hauling animals spells trouble for plants in warming world: Half of all plant species depend on birds and mammals to carry their seeds to new habitat, Erik Stokstad, Science, 1/13/22
Fewer ducks are wintering in the Deep South: Some migratory ducks are finding suitable winter habitat farther north than in the past,YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 1/10/22
These birds have been singing the same songs for literally a million years: A million years ago, the soundtrack of the "sky island" mountains of East Africa may have been very similar to what it is today, Yasemin Saplakoglu, Live Science, 1/14/22
Birders to flock to Ottawa County again for ‘Biggest Week’ in May, The Beacon (Ohio), 1/12/22: “…the “Biggest Week in American Birding,” organized and hosted by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) based at the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in Oak Harbor on the Lake Erie shoreline.”
Politicking Time Bombs
On the Hidden Fight Inside the Federal Reserve That Reshaped American Economic Life: The 2010 Policy That Widened the Gulf Between Rich and Poor, Christopher Leonard, LitHub, 1/12/22
We can’t solve the climate crisis with a broken democracy: Defusing the climate emergency requires defusing threats to American democracy, Mark Hertsgaard, The Guardian, 1/10/22
Manchin's Coal Corruption Is So Much Worse Than You Knew: The senator from West Virginia is bought and paid for by Big Coal. With his help the dying industry is pulling one final heist — and the entire planet may pay the price, Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone, 1/10/22
The Great Resignation: Historical data and a deeper analysis show it’s not as great as screaming headlines suggest, Jay L. Zagorsky, The Conversation, 1/11/22
New Report Reveals Kroger Grocery Workers Struggle to Afford Healthy Food: “Hungry at the Table” singles out pay and conditions at grocery giant, whose profits have soared during the pandemic, Bobbi Murray, Capital & Main, 1/11/22
Trump Backs Boosters. Clearly, Someone Did the Math for Him: Trump is losing hundreds of voters a day to Covid — far more than the margins in the swing states, Donald G McNeil Jr., Medium, 1/12/22
Election officials in Texas reject hundreds of ballot applications under state’s new voting restrictions, Eugene Scott, Washington Post, 1/14/22: “Election officials in one of the most populous counties in Texas have rejected about half of the applications for ballots because of the state’s new voting restrictions enacted by Republicans last year.” (Ed. Note, this is where the majority of states are headed now. The prospect of right-wing minority rule hegemony is imminent and will not be easy to undo. Re-read Ishmael Reed’s great novel Mumbo Jumbo, which tells this story apocryphally, presciently, and sadly, all too accurately.)
“What a Moron”: Anthony Fauci Lets It Rip on the Entire Country’s Behalf: Feel like you’re ready to snap? Dr. Fauci gets it, Bess Levin, Vanity Fair, 1/11/22
The silence of 109 corporations who claimed to be champions of voting rights, Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, Rebecca Crosby, Popular Information, 1/12/22: “Only two of the 111 companies, Patagonia and Richer Poorer, told Popular Information that they supported filibuster reform to pass voting rights legislation.” (Ed. Note: look at the list of companies that said they support voting rights, and tell them if they don’t get active, you will stop buying their stuff or owning their stock.)
Corporate sedition is more damaging to America than the Capitol attack: Kyrsten Sinema receives millions from business and opposes progressive priorities. Republicans who voted to overturn an election still bag big bucks. Whose side are CEOs on? Robert Reich, The Guardian, 1/16/22: “Capitalism and democracy are compatible only if democracy is in the driver’s seat.”
The New Voting Rights Bill Is the Law We Need Right Now, Marc Elias, Democracy Docket, 1/13/22
What do Democrats and Republicans actually believe in 2022? That should decide the midterms: If Republicans go full Trump and Democrats stand up for progressive causes, we might see a real contest this year, Thom Hartmann, Salon, 1/11/22: “Is our "reality TV" news media up to the task of comparing and contrasting the two political parties, and judging the most likely outcomes of the directions they've chosen?” (Ed. note, the answer to this rhetorical question is a resounding “no.”)
Biden waited too long to engage on voting rights. It’ll cost him — and voters: The White House didn’t jump into the fight until this stage of it was nearly over, Keith Boykin, Washington Post, 1/16/22
The Supreme Court’s Vexing Mixed Message on Vaccine Mandates: Two rulings reveal just how hard-conservative the core of the Court is, Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 1/14/22
Reading the Inflation Numbers Wrong: Will the media and the Fed stampede the economy into 1970s-style stagflation? Robert Kuttner, American Prospect, 1/12/22
Building equity into the renewable energy transition: Community and labor organizers shape New Mexico’s changing economy, Carl Segerstrom, High Country News, 1/12/22
In the Latest Rights of Nature Case, a Tribe Is Suing Seattle on Behalf of Salmon in the Skagit River: The rights of nature movement, which seeks to give animals and other entities in the natural world the same legal protections as human beings, is spawning laws and lawsuits all over the world, Katie Surma, Inside Climate News, 1/14/22
Why is so little known about the 1930s coup attempt against FDR? Business leaders like JP Morgan and Irénée du Pont were accused by a retired major general of plotting to install a fascist dictator, Sally Denton, The Guardian, 1/11/22: “If the plotters had been held accountable in the 1930s, the forces behind the 6 January coup attempt might never have flourished into the next century.”
Paradise waits on the crest of a wave, her angels in flames
She has no pain, like a child she is pure, she is not to blame
Poised for flight, wings spread bright, spring from night into the sun
Don't stop to run, she can fly like a lie, she can't be outdone
Tell me the cost, I can pay, let me go, tell me love is not lost
Sell everything, without love day to day insanity's king
I will pay day by day, anyway, lock, bolt and key
Crippled but free, I was blind all the time, I was learning to see
Help on the way, well, I know only this, I've got you today
Don't fly away cause I love what I love and I want it that way
I will stay one more day, like I say, honey, it's you
Making it too, without love in a dream, it will never come true
Honey, it's you
Making it too
Without love in the dream
It will never come true
—Help on the Way/Slipknot!, The Grateful Dead, written by Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Keith Godchaux, Donna Jean Godchaux, Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter
NEW: Just posted my Writerscast interview with Enrique Salmón about his really extraordinary book, Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science.
For My Young Friends Who Are Afraid
There is a country to cross you will
find in the corner of your eye, in
the quick slip of your foot--air far
down, a snap that might have caught.
And maybe for you, for me, a high, passing
voice that finds its way by being
afraid. That country is there, for us,
carried as it is crossed. What you fear
will not go away: it will take you into
yourself and bless you and keep you.
That's the world, and we all live there.
—William Stafford
Some notable birthdays
Martin Luther King, Jr. 1/15/1929
Benjamin Franklin, 1/17/1706
William Stafford, 1/17/1914
Alan Alexander Milne, 1/18/1882
Ernesto Cardenal Martinez, 1/20/1925
Thanks again to all of you who have written in response to last week’s newsletter. I am acutely aware that The Weird Times has grown in scope, and there is just too much “stuff” for most of you to sample, much less read in full. But even these seemingly large collections of links and stories are highly edited versions of what I am collecting in just seven days. The news is literally overwhelming, so most of us tune out most of it. After all, human brains are amazing editing machines. And life requires us to use them. But our minds are simultaneously fantastically synthetic, and beautifully able to contain and use incredible amounts of information and knowledge (think of what our pre-writing ancestors kept in their heads). I hope these weekly collections can contribute at least somewhat to increase your awareness of what we need to know in order for humanity to survive and thrive. Much love to all. Stay warm. David