The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces: Issue 154, April 23, 2023 (V3 #49)
And so, this is a moment that history will show required each of us, based on our collective love of our country, to stand up and fight for and protect our ideals…. [W]e have been called upon to be the next generation of the people who will help lead and fight in this movement for freedom and liberty based on our love of our country…. [W]e stand for our democracy. And we stand for foundational and fundamental principles that have everything to do with freedom, liberty, and equality for all people.—Vice President Kamala Harris
"Of course, advocates of globalization and technological society argue that there is no viable alternative, that it’s utopian to speak about turning back to decentralized self-reliant models. But what is truly 'utopian'—corporate utopianism—is to believe that a system which marginalizes so many... and assumes it can grow endlessly on a finite planet—bringing the planet to the brink of environmental catastrophe—can possibly be sustained for long. Far better to do exactly the opposite of what has brought us to the brink."—Jerry Mander
Books and Culture
Leslie Marmon Silko Saw It Coming: The author of “Ceremony” and “Almanac of the Dead” is thinking about different ways to write her next book, Ismail Ibrahim, New Yorker, 4/16/23: “I think of storytelling as a part of healing. The body of healing stories and storytelling are held communally and are practiced together and always have been.”
The Origins of Creativity: The concept was devised in postwar America, in response to the cultural and commercial demands of the era. Now we’re stuck with it, Louis Menand, New Yorker, 4/17/23: “But are all acts we call creative in fact commensurable? Is there some level on which the theory of relativity is no different from “Hamlet” or Pokémon?”
“But Where’s Its Anus?” On How We Imagine Alien Lifeforms: Jaime Green Considers Our Anthropomorphic Biases, LitHub, 4/18/23. “Carl Sagan wanted us to imagine weird aliens, to shatter our anthropocentric habits. If not for scientific reasons, then for spiritual ones.” Book: The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
The improbable fame of a hijab-wearing teen rapper from a poor neighborhood in Mumbai, Raksha Kumar, NPR, 4/16/23. Listen: Saniya Mistry
New Survey Reports Size of Poetry’s Audience – Streaming Included, Sunil Iyengar, Arts Journal, 4/6/23: “(in 2022)…analysis shows that 11.5 percent of adults (over 29 million) either read poetry or listened to it…”
Lydia Davis refuses to sell her next book on Amazon: The garlanded short story author will release her next collection solely in bookshops and select independent online outlets to coincide with Bookshop Day, Sarah Schaffi, The Guardian, 4/19/23: “We value small businesses, yet we give too much of our business to the large and the powerful – and often, increasingly, we have hardly any choice.”
Now it's time for a handsome little bookend
Now it's time to tie up all the loose ends
Am I still a skeptic or did you make me a believer?
If you hesitate, you'll hear the click of the receiver
—from “Are You Serious,” Andrew Bird
Book Bans
National Library Week to Include 'Right to Read Day,’ Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly, 4/20/23: “ALA calls on readers everywhere to show our commitment to the First Amendment by doing something concrete to preserve it.”
Connecticut sees sharp increase in calls to ban books from public libraries, schools, officials say, Kayla Mutchler, CT Insider, 4/15/23: "Many challenges and the movement in general have been traced back to political organizations and political action groups.”
Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools, Kasey Meehan, Jonathan Friedman, PEN America, 4/20/23: “Update on Book Bans in the 2022-2023 School Year Shows Expanded Censorship of Themes Centered on Race, History, Sexual Orientation and Gender”
When the Culture Wars Come for the Public Library: A Montana county’s battle shows how faith in public learning and public space is fraying, E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 4/20/23
Join: Unite Against Book Bans. Right To Read Day, April 24, 2023: PROTECT YOUR FREEDOM TO READ
What did I notice? Particulars! The
vision of the great One is myriad –
smoke curls upward from ashtray,
house fire burned low,
The night, still wet & moody black heaven/starless
upward in motion with wet wind
—from “Wales Visitation,” Allen Ginsberg
Politicks
Ocasio-Cortez Rebukes Alito 'Tantrum' and 'Highly Politicized' Supreme Court: "In our system of checks and balances, SCOTUS’s reckless behavior warrants a check from the legislative and executive branches. This is not unprecedented, it's how our system is designed to avert tyranny,” Jon Queally, Common Dreams, 4/22/23
Dominion, Fox, and Us: It’s time for Americans of goodwill to pressure cable companies to drop Fox News, and pressure the government to deport Rupert Murdoch, Harold Meyerson, American Prospect, 4/18/23
Dominion Was Never Going to Save Our Democracy From Fox News: With a $787.5 million settlement for its election lies, Fox News has avoided the legal and moral punishment of a court verdict, Peter Maass, The Intercept, 4/18/23
It’s Time for a Shareholder Suit Against Fox: The squandering of nearly a billion bucks due to management’s misconduct should prompt a shareholder revolt, Harold Meyerson, American Prospect, 4/20/23
Audio Reveals Top GOP Lawyer's 2024 Strategy: Make It Harder for College Students to Vote: "Instead of fighting for the people or actually earning the votes, Republicans' only plan is to try to 'combat' voting on college campuses," said Rep. Summer Lee, Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, 4/21/23
What’s Behind the GOP’s War Against Democracy? And are rightwing billionaires who want more, more, more money willing to make common cause with bigots, fascists, and wannabee killers to get it? Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 4/17/23
Rightwing extremists defeated by Democrats in US school board elections: Republican-backed culture warrior candidates fare poorly in Illinois and Wisconsin, offering hope to the left, Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian, 4/21/23
The New Pro-life Movement Has a Plan to End Abortion: And it doesn’t care if American voters don’t agree with it, Elaine Godfrey, The Atlantic, 4/19/23
An anti-obscenity law from 1873 was discarded for decades. Now the anti-abortion movement wants it back: Anthony Comstock’s crusade against women gained him the moniker of ‘moral eunuch’. Today’s anti-choice zealots are following in his footsteps, Moira Donegan, The Guardian, 4/19/23
'A gamechanger': this simple device could help fight the war on abortion rights in the US: Only a tiny fraction of primary care physicians provide abortion care. Dr Joan Fleischman believes that training them in a simple and easy abortion method might be the best way to offset the war on access, Poppy Noor, The Guardian, 4/18/23: “…anyone can learn to use a manual aspiration device, and manage their own abortions…”
Judicial record undermines Clarence Thomas defence in luxury gifts scandal: Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow was linked to a conservative group that had court business while Thomas was on the bench, Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, 4/20/23
A California journalist documents the far-right takeover of her town: ‘We’re a test case:’ Doni Chamberlain’s been a journalist in Shasta county for nearly 30 years. Now she’s targeted by the extremists who are looking to reshape the region, Dani Anguiano, The Guardian, 4/22/23
OpenAI’s CEO Says the Age of Giant AI Models Is Already Over: Sam Altman says the research strategy that birthed ChatGPT is played out and future strides in artificial intelligence will require new ideas, Will Knight, Wired, 4/17/23
What’s AGI, and Why Are AI Experts Skeptical? ChatGPT and other bots have revived conversations on artificial general intelligence. Scientists say algorithms won’t surpass you any time soon, Reece Rogers, Wired, 4/20/23
Five big trends that have changed in the last few years: In which I pay attention to the world so you don't have to, Noah Smith, Noahpinion, 4/17/23: “Here are five big and important new trends in the U.S. and the world over the past three to ten years that seem not to have made it into our collective consciousness yet.”
Big Tech Lobbyists Explain How They Took Over Washington: An amazing research paper unearths how the tech industry invented the concept of digital trade and sold it to government officials, David Dayen, American Prospect, 4/18/23
You Can’t Regulate What You Don’t Understand: Or, Why AI Regulations Should Begin with Mandated Disclosures, Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly.com, 4/14/23
we are not alone: we have brothers in all the hills
we have sisters in the jungles and in the ozarks
we even have brothers on the frozen tundra
they sit by their fires, they sing, they gather arms they multiply:
they will reclaim the earth
—from “Revolutionary Letter #29,” Diane Di Prima
Science & Environment
James Webb Space Telescope keeps finding galaxies that shouldn’t exist, scientist warns: Six of the earliest and most massive galaxies that Nasa’s breakthrough telescope has seen so far appear to be bigger and more mature than they should be, Andrew Griffin, Independent (UK), 4/19/23: “It suggests that, if scientists have not made a mistake, we may be missing some fundamental information about the universe.” (bold added)
A New Kind of Symmetry Shakes Up Physics: So-called “higher symmetries” are illuminating everything from particle decays to the behavior of complex quantum systems, Kevin Hartnett, Quanta, 4/18/23
Physicist Michio Kaku: ‘We could unravel the secrets of the universe:’ Quantum computers will transform our world, curing cancer and fixing the climate crisis, says the scientist and sci-fi fan – but can they be made to work? David Shariatmadari, The Guardian, 4/22/23. “Silicon Valley could become a rust belt … a junkyard of chips that no one uses any more because they’re too primitive…” Book: Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything
This technology could alter the entire planet. These groups want every nation to have a say.: Nonprofits and academic groups are working to help climate-vulnerable regions take part in the high-stakes global debate over solar geoengineering, James Temple, MIT Technology Review, 4/17/23
New Research Sparks Concerns That Ocean Circulation Will Collapse: Scientists have long feared that warming could cause a breakdown of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic. But new research finds the real risk lies in Antarctica’s waters, where melting could disrupt currents in the next few decades, with profound impacts on global climate, Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, 4/18/23
Scientists created a computer-driven version of an extinction crystal ball: "What we need is some way of anticipating species that may not be threatened at the moment but have a high chance of becoming threatened in the future,” Warren Cornwall, Anthropocene, 4/19/23
Our Way of Life Is Poisoning Us, Mark O’Connell, NY Times, 4/20/23 (gift article): “The unthinkable harm we have done to the planet — that is done to the planet on our behalf, as consumers — is being visited, in this surreal and lurid manner, on our own bodies.”
A Radical Seed-Breeding Project Could Help Southern Farmers Adapt to Climate Change: The Utopian Seed Project is growing dozens of types of okra in one North Carolina field, creating genetic collisions that build new, resilient varieties. The group is working to adapt more food crops to the changing climate, Daniel Walton, Civil Eats, 4/18/23
From scarcity to abundance: The secret of the ‘peace farmers’ of Colombia, Sandra Weiss, Monga Bay, 4/17/23: “…farmers grow sustainably, sell locally made goods at a weekly organic market, and offer popular ecotours and accommodations at their farms.”
“No Bees, No Food.” How Insects Help Farmers With Their Harvest: New and Unexpected Innovations in Modern Farming, Louise Gray, LitHub, 4/21/23 “The key to tomato farming in Scotland, Holland or anywhere else in the world is bees.”
Fire danger in the high mountains is intensifying: That’s bad news for humans, treacherous for the environment, Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, The Conversation, 4/19/23
Let’s talk about the biggest cause of the West’s water crisis: The Colorado River is going dry ... to feed cows, Kenny Torella, Vox, 4/19/23
Scientists light the bat signal on climate change as study finds 81 of North America’s 154 bats face ‘severe population decline’ over 15 years, John Flesher, Fortune, 4/17/23
A Critical Arctic Organism Is Now Infested With Microplastics: The algae Melosira arctica is the foundation of the food chain, and its contamination could have major consequences for ecosystems and the climate, Matt Simon , Wired, 4/21/23
Raw materials, or sacred beings? Lithium extraction puts two worldviews into tension, Mario Orespe Hernandez, The Conversation, 4/21/23: “…religious concepts such as “sacred” or “divine” do not necessarily capture the relationships that Andean Indigenous people have long established with these more-than-human beings, who have been known since pre-colonial times as “huacas.” These entities are not considered “gods,” or thought of as dealing with otherworldly beliefs. Rather, they are treated as integral to people’s earthly everyday life.”
Keep smoothing
the stones in the
driveway
let me fry an egg
on your ass
& I’ll pick up
the mail.
—from “Each Defeat,” Eileen Myles
Health & Wellness
PFAS has more effect than diet on weight gain: Study: Dieters who gained the most weight back after initial weight loss had high levels of PFAS – regardless of what diet they stuck to, Douglas Fischer, Environmental Health News, 4/19/23
Toxic PFAS chemicals used in packaging can end up in food, study finds: Compostable packaging is popular for environmental reasons, but it can be treated with ‘forever chemicals’ linked to health problems, Tom Perkins, The Guardian, 4/17/23
New tech could one day scrub ‘forever chemicals’ from your tap water: Researchers at the University of British Columbia have launched real-world pilot tests of their water treatment method, Allyson Chiu, Washington Post, 4/16/23
The Future of Fertility: A new crop of biotech startups want to revolutionize human reproduction, Emily Witt, New Yorker, 4/17/23: “Much of the biology of female reproductive aging is still a black box.”
Psychedelics may better treat depression and anxiety symptoms than prescription antidepressants for patients with advanced cancer, C. Michael White, The Conversation, 4/17/23: “60% of those who received a single high-dose psilocybin session achieved clinical remission for depression, and 52% did for anxiety.”
The Biggest Microbiome Study Sheds New Light on Shared Health Risks: The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious, Yasemin Saplakoglu, Wired, 4/17/23
Sing like a bird at the open
Sky, but no bird
Is a man—
—from “That Land,” George Oppen
Birds
Current avian flu strain deadlier than in past and could become endemic, study says: Scientists raise alarm over avian influenza strain’s unprecedented deadliness and reach from farmed poultry and wild birds, Gloria Oladipo, The Guardian, 4/19/23
Seabirds that swallow ocean plastic waste have scarring in their stomachs – scientists have named this disease ‘plasticosis,’ Matthew Savoca, The Conversation, 3/21/23
One building in downtown Denver is the biggest bird killer in the city: Started in 2018, “Lights out Denver” is a program to increase awareness of migratory bird collisions with buildings. Melissa Reeves, 9News, 4/7/23
One day out from Earth Day, it’s hard not to be thinking about just where we are situated in our planetary crisis. At this stage, every day must be our “earth day,” for as the slogan goes, “there is no planet B.” And as this weekly newsletter demonstrates, there is so much else we need to pay attention to, understand, oppose, and work for, while still trying to maintain our sanity— and find some hope and joy every single day we are alive to experience it all.
Right now, my sanity is found in dirt and seeds. Once it stops raining, I’ll be digging and planting. Aside from actively loving the people in my life, I can’t think of anything better to do right now.
Thanks to all of you who send messages, links, and stories. Your support means everything. Much love from here — David
Gardening is like poetry in that it is gratuitous, and also that it cannot be done on will alone. What will can do, and the only thing it can do, is make time in which to do it. Young poets, enraged because they don’t get published right away, confuse what will can do and what it can’t. It can’t make a tree peony grow to twelve feet in a year or two, and it can’t force the attention of editors and publishers. What it can do is create the space necessary for achievement, little by little.—May Sarton