The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces: Issue 185, November 26, 2023 (V4 #29)
Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.—Tom Stoppard
Companies worth billions of dollars are, without permission, training generative AI models on creators’ works, which are then being used to create new content that in many cases can compete with the original works. I don’t see how this can be acceptable in a society that has set up the economics of the creative arts such that creators rely on copyright.–Ed Newton-Rex, former VP Audio for Stability AI
Books Music and Culture
Blacklisted Communist Writer Albert Maltz’s Last Novel Will Finally Be Published in the US, Taylor Dorrell, Jacobin, 11/20/23: A new edition slated for US distribution means his 70-year blacklist will finally end. A Tale of One January
Herbert Gold, Postwar Novelist of Love and Marriage, Dies at 99: He emerged in the 1950s as a promising young writer exploring the emotional lives of ordinary men and women and the complexities of Jewish identity in America, William Grimes, NY Times, 11/20/23: “Mr. Gold’s lively, if rueful, sense of the human comedy could be offset in his fiction by an undercurrent of sorrow and bitterness.” (Gift article)
The Marvels of Qu: What Makes Chinese Food and Drink Unique: In Praise of This Multifaceted, Deliciously Diverse Cuisine, Fuchsia Dunlop, LitHub, 11/21/23: “It’s no exaggeration to say that qu is one of the keys to what makes Chinese food Chinese.” Book: Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food. (I interviewed Ms. Dunlop for Writerscast about her previous (excellent) book.)
The Fall of My Teen-Age Self: This particular April, I’d sworn to my mother I wasn’t smoking. Therefore: stolen cigarettes. Therefore: windowsill, Zadie Smith, New Yorker, 11/20/23: “Many interesting things have happened to adult me, but in the opinion of teen-age me there is only one real event in our lives and it occurred on the sixteenth of April, 1993, when I fell thirty feet from my bedroom window.”
At 33, I knew everything. At 69, I know something much more important, Anne Lamott, Washington Post, 11/20/23: “The meaning is that we have come through so much, and we take care of each other and, against all odds, heal, imperfectly. We still dance, but in certain weather, it hurts.”
Celeste Ng teaches us how to listen: A conversation with the novelist Celeste Ng, Lyz Lenz, Men Yell at Me, 11/22/23: “You don't actually want to have to have a thick skin. I mean, you don't want everything that brushes against you to leave a wound, but I think that it still seems so important to remain permeable…”
‘I was in a state of rage’: playwright V, formerly Eve Ensler, on her long fight against violence: The activist and writer of the Vagina Monologues has no intention of stopping her quest to end violence against women, Eva Wiseman, The Guardian, 11/26/23:”… violence was the central role in my life. I am a consequence of violence. Every day of my life was shaped by it.”
A stranger asked me to take her photograph. It saved my life: Today, I am alive because a pink-haired stranger stopped me for a picture, Billy Lezra, Washington Post, 11/19/23: “…the completion of suicide often occurs when ideation, opportunity and a lack of interruption converge into a single unretractable moment.”
Billion Dollar Babies: the wild story behind the Cabbage Patch Kids: A new documentary looks back at the 80s toy craze and the battle over who really created the dolls in the first place, Laura Mechling, The Guardian, 11/23/23: “… the Cabbage Patch craze was heavily indebted to a soft-spoken Louisville, Kentucky, folk artist named Martha Nelson Thomas.”
Will climate cookbooks change how we eat? Sustainable diets have been around for ages, but an emerging cookbook genre signals a new appetite for change, Caroline Saunders, Grist, 11/20/23: “Climate cuisine is dead on arrival without good cake.”
It’s Time to Log Off: There’s a devastating amount of heavy news these days. Psychology experts say you need to know your limits—and when to put down the phone, Thor Benson, Wired, 11/23/23
“The Message”: Grandmaster Flash’s Pioneering Album, Will Wills, Culture Sonar, 11/21/23: “In the early 1970s, Sadler (as Grandmaster Flash) joined with Keef Cowboy, Melle Mel, and Kidd Creole to form the group “Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs.” It was this group that coined the term “hip hop,” an imitation of soldiers marching in a rhythmic way.”
And if my Royce break down, I'll be out in the rain
And then forget it, forget it, forget it, forget it
Forget it, huh, take the train
—from “Superappin” Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Politics and Economics
The New Antisemitism: Jews are being attacked as the root of all Western evil, Tomar Persico, Persuasion, 11/20/23: “A combination of post-colonial discourse, an atmosphere of post-nationalism, and a damning introspective critique of the West have created a zeitgeist in which colonialism is seen as the original sin, Western cultural dominance and globalization its poisonous fruits, and the elevation of the subaltern and oppressed as the highest redemption—which is to be realized by any means necessary. In this theological scheme it is once again the Jews who are the apotheosis and incarnation of evil.”
Why Has America Tolerated Six Illegitimate GOP Presidents? “Power at any cost” has been the Republican slogan ever since Nixon’s attempts to assassinate Castro in 1960 to beat JFK in that year’s election…Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 11/20/23
Trump’s Big Advantages as the Election Year Unfolds: From the rules on winning GOP delegates to the weighting of the Electoral College, the Republican front-runner benefits—even as he claims the cards are stacked against him, Gerald F. Seib, Wall Street Journal, 11/22/23 (gift article)
"Lock Them Up": Trump's Authoritarian Plans for 2025: Controlling bodies in jails, camps, and psychiatric institutions makes strongmen feel powerful, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Lucid, 11/22/23: “Autocrats often tell you who they are and what they intend to do to you before they take office. They do this as a challenge to norms, and they do this as a threat.”
Has Anyone Noticed That Trump Is Really Old? He’s younger than Biden, but not by much, David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 11/20/23: “Trump sure seems to struggle with mental acuity.”
What Argentina's New Grand Experiment Means to the World: Milei's victory is an international marker, of sorts, for America’s billionaires and largest corporations, who share his desire to end liberal democracy and the so-called “welfare state”...,Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 11/22/23: “I hope I’m wrong, but I think I just saw the future of America if Republicans manage to sweep the 2024 elections, Trump or no Trump.”
Billionaires are lining up to fund Donald Trump’s anti-democratic agenda: The more disturbing Trump’s public proclamations become, the more US plutocrats seem to want him to win, Robert Reich, The Guardian, 11/21/23: “The willingness to make this a fight – to name the moneyed interests backing neofascism, explain why they’re doing this, and mobilize and energize the US against their agenda and in favor of democracy – is critical to winning the 2024 election and preserving and rebuilding US democracy.”
Why Americans feel gloomy about the economy despite falling inflation and low unemployment, Christopher Rugaber, AP News, 11/19/23: “Most Americans are not just looking for disinflation” — a slowdown in price increases. They’re looking for deflation. They want these prices to be back where they were before the pandemic.”
Why “Not losing" is not tantamount to winning: Can Putin wait for the West to give up on Ukraine? Lawrence Freedman, Comment is Freed, 11/23/23: “For Putin ‘not winning’ is better than losing but it is not enough.”
Combatants for Peace: We are a group of former Israeli soldiers and formerly imprisoned Palestinians. Our work is a model for the nonviolent way forward, Sulaiman Khatib, Avner Wishnitzer, NY Review of Books, 11/23/23: “We need not only a real peace process but a project of rehumanization to support it.”
Why are U.S. courts afraid of the 14th Amendment? Because it’s radical, Sherrilyn Ifill, Washington Post, 11/24/23: “‘No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States … shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.’”
The Singularity is Fear, Tomas Pueyo, Uncharted Territories, 11/23/23: “…does it make sense for society to allow its most economically disruptive people to develop such transformative & potentially disruptive technology?”
Free speech does not require subsidizing bigotry, Judd Legum, Popular Information, 11/20/23: “Musk describes himself as a "free speech absolutist." But Musk's commitment to free speech apparently does not apply if you say things that make Musk look bad.”
‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros: Challenging each other to cage fights, building apocalypse bunkers – the behaviour of today’s mega-moguls is becoming increasingly outlandish and imperial, Douglas Rushkoff, Washington Post, 11/25/23: “Digital businesses depend on mineral slavery in Africa, dump toxic waste in China, facilitate the undermining of democracy across the globe and spread destabilising disinformation for profit – all from the sociopathic remove afforded by remote administration.”
Neil Young boycotts X over antisemitic Elon Musk tweet: Singer-songwriter joins chorus of disapproval over Musk’s agreement with tweet that accused Jewish communities of ‘dialectical hatred against whites,’ Ben Beaumont-Thompson, The Guardian, 11/21/23
Sioux Tribes Want US to Come Clean on Treaty Deceit: "For centuries, the U.S. government has broken every promise it's made to Native tribes," says Standing Rock Sioux Chair Janet Alkire. "It's time for that to stop,” Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, 11/22/23: “The Black Hills are not for sale, and they never were.”
In America, national parks are more than scenic − they’re sacred. But they were created at a cost to Native Americans, Robert S. Bremer, The Conversation, 11/20/23: “Westward expansion had severe consequences for American Indian nations, and the earliest national parks played a role in forcing their removal.”
We are told that light is too far away to see.
You cannot hide any more in the refrigerator.
The neighbors will never learn their lesson in the dark.
People in glass houses continuously walk around in circles.
—from “Saving Face,” Terence Winch
Science and Environment
Richest 1% account for more carbon emissions than poorest 66%, report says: ‘Polluter elite’ are plundering the planet to point of destruction, says Oxfam after comprehensive study of climate inequality, Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, 11/19/23: “…while the wealthiest 1% tend to live climate-insulated, air-conditioned lives, their emissions – 5.9bn tonnes of CO2 in 2019 – are responsible for immense suffering.”
2023 Just Notched Its Most Ominous Climate Record Yet: We all just lived through our first 2-degree Celsius day, Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 11/20/23
Current Efforts Not Enough to Keep Warming Under 1.5°C: A canyon between current efforts and necessary action means global temperatures are on track to rise far beyond Paris Agreement goals, Grace van Deelen, EOS, 11/20/20
‘Hope has to be a strategy’: the scientist who refused to let the climate warmongers win: As one of Australia’s most influential voices on climate, Lesley Hughes has thought deeply about how to talk about the crisis and says hope has a key role to play, Graham Readfearn, The Guardian, 11/22/23: “We can’t afford to give up. Therefore, we have to keep hopeful.”
The case for climate neuroscience: In a new paper, brain scientists lay out how their field could probe the reciprocal relationships between the changing climate and the brain, Sarah DeWeerdt, Anthropocene, 11/21/23: “Neuroscience can help build an understanding of how exposure to extreme heat, storms, fires, and floods related to climate change affects brain structure, function, and health, and how these changes translate into impacts on behavior.”
Wi-Fi for neurons: first map of wireless nerve signals unveiled in worms: Studies find a densely connected network of neurons that communicate over long distances, rather than across synapses, Claudia López Lloreda, Nature, 11/21/23: “The neuropeptide network was thought of as a helper for synaptic signalling. But the extensive scale of this signalling map really shows that it’s equally important, complex and maybe even more diverse than the synaptic signalling network.”
The Future of the Colorado River Hinges on One Young Negotiator: J.B. Hamby, California’s representative in talks about sharing water from the Colorado River, holds the keys to a quarter of the river’s flow — and its future, Mark Olaide, Janet Wilson, ProPublica, 11/20/23
‘Electrocaloric’ heat pump could transform air conditioning: Heat pumps are ubiquitous in the form of air conditioners. Scientists just invented one that avoids harmful refrigerant gases, Davide Castelvecchi, Nature, 11/20/23
Millions of EV Batteries Could Retire to Solar Farms: A Southern California company is showing how repurposing EV batteries for solar storage can extend their usefulness for several years, Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Wired, 11/25/23
The Next Power Plant Is on the Roof and in the Basement: A Department of Energy report promotes a new system that could remake the energy grid, Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 11/20/23: “We can shave ten billion dollars a year off the price of the country’s power system.”
Building a Case for Investment in Regenerative Agriculture on Indigenous Farms: A unique three-year project from the Environmental Defense Fund and the Intertribal Agriculture Council hopes to yield quantitative data about the costs and benefits of regenerative practices, Kate Nelson, Civil Eats, 11/20/23
Dirty Water and Dead Rice: The Cost of the Clean Energy Transition in Rural Minnesota: Mining the critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries could threaten local water supply and Indigenous culture, Karina Atkins, Inside Climate News, 11/21/23
Wildfires gripped Canada last year. Now, US farmers are feeling the burn: Smoke from blazes lingered over Ohio and other states in the corn belt affecting maturation, raising fears of crop damage, Stephen Starr, The Guardian, 11/23/23
Study says Canadian coal mines put unparalleled pollution in Montana-bound waters: U.S. Geological Survey researchers say rising levels of nitrate and selenium in Canada’s Elk River are unparalleled in the annals of modern monitoring., Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press, 11/20/23
Recycled plastics contain more chemicals than original plastics, study finds, Editors, Environmental Health News, 11/24/23 (Yikes!)
All the Fish We Cannot See: In a dark, unexplored layer of ocean, a hidden cache of fish might play an unexpected role in our climate’s future. It seems like a bad time for a new fishery, Moira Donovan, Hakai, 11/23/23
signs can't be told
tho you can learn
to read them-
if you're lucky enough to
catch one going by
keep it to yourself
—from “Alchemical Signals,” Diane di Prima
Health and Wellness
Get used to it: COVID is a part of the holidays. Here's how to think about risks now, Will Stone, NPR, 11/22/23: “No. 1 tip for people getting on a plane? Mask up.
The Crisis in Medicine: A Provocation: A cardiologist argues that contemporary medicine may harm as much as help, Akshay Pendyal, Persuasion, 11/22/23: “…ordering tests and performing procedures is no substitute for treating people with dignity, for understanding their station in life and meeting them accordingly. The smallest of interventions, but one that has the potential to be the most consequential. And one, I’m afraid, that may be our only hope.”
In the Gut’s ‘Second Brain,’ Key Agents of Health Emerge: Sitting alongside the neurons in your enteric nervous system are underappreciated glial cells, which play key roles in digestion and disease that scientists are only just starting to understand. Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta, 11/21/23
Birds and Birding
A lovers’ tale of romance, fidelity and the aviary netting keeping them apart, Terrence McCoy, Washington Post, 11/23/23: “I worked at the zoo for 28 years, and I never saw anything like this. There’s no explanation.”
A Beacon of Hope for the Birds (and Humans) of New York: NYC Audubon’s Dustin Partridge wants New York City to become more livable for both people and wildlife—and green roofs, he says, are key to that effort, Adam Kaufman, Fordham News, 11/21/23
Freakishly Smart Falcons Run These Islands: The success of wild striated caracaras in a test suggests that the intellects of more bird species may be underestimated, Darren Incorvaia, NY Times, 11/21/23 (gift article)
propelled forward and upside down
past language into anachronistic light.
—from “The Specious Present,” Catherine Barnett
This week I give especially humble thanks to all of you who take the time to read this generally overlong compendium of news and ideas, and special thanks to all of you who have written to me. I hope you all found ways to be thankful, as we all must be, for the simple beauty of daily life, even as the weirdness of each week continues.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, thanks for who you are and what you do. Please keep in touch. Stay well. Share love. We need each other, now more than ever.—David