The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces: Issue 188, December 17, 2023 (V4 #32)
It is the object only of war that makes it honorable… We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.—Thomas Paine
Books Music Culture
‘Blessed with incredible gravitas’: how Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andre Braugher was a talent like no other: From award-winning Shakespearean roles to changing the face of TV in gritty dramas, the actor was astonishing. And his turn as Raymond Holt was laser-focused comedic excellence, Stuart Heritage, The Guardian, 12/13/23
‘I just loved to sing!’: Brenda Lee on inspiring Elvis, Lennon and Taylor Swift – and topping the chart at 78: She has just become the oldest person ever to top the US chart, with the classic she recorded at 13 – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. She recalls touring with Jerry Lee Lewis, forming a bond with the king of rock’n’roll and what she learned from Judy Garland, Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 12/14/23
‘We’re on TikTok? What’s TikTok?’ The forgotten bands going supersonic thanks to gen Z: Ageing acts that can’t even get radio time are going viral – and finding themselves playing arenas or even soundtracking Ukrainian resistance. But how do you follow up a hit no one can explain? Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 12/11/23 “…true virality cannot be engineered.”
‘It was smart to write when I was so angry’: Bonnie Garmus on the winning formula behind Lessons in Chemistry: Her best-selling debut has sold 6m copies and been made into a hit TV series. The author discusses how a bad day in the office was the spark for worldwide success, Lisa Allardice, The Guardian, 12/16/23
These Texas parents are pushing back against school library book bans. ‘We can fight this,’ Silas Allen, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 12/11/23: “The Texas Freedom to Read Project, a coalition of parents from across the state, launched Dec. 4. The group seeks to train parents on how to advocate for free access to books in their kids’ schools.”
Excellence Does Not Require Perfection: Perfectionism is a frozen form of idealism, Rob Brezsny, Free Will Astrology, 12/12/23: “As much as I love beginner’s mind, I suggest we also practice beginner’s heart. That means approaching every encounter with a fresh wave of innocent, tender, generous curiosity. It’s as pure a feeling as if we are invoking it for the first time.”
Canterbury Tales Down the Centuries: How Each Era Has Reinvented Chaucer: on the Dramatically Different Ways We Have Read The Canterbury Tales, Marion Turner, LitHub, 12/11/23: “A key phrase in the Tales is: ‘Diverse folk, diversely they said.’ In other words, everyone has a different interpretation.”
We need to talk about the United States’ mental health crisis – and its larger causes: The suicide rate is at its highest since 1941. In addition to a stronger safety net, we must face hard truths about US society, Robert Reich, The Guardian, 12/11/23: “…in addition to providing more and better access to mental health care, and a suicide and crisis hotline, shouldn’t we try to make our society healthier?”
How Mark Duplass Fights the Sadness: Since childhood, the filmmaker and “Morning Show” actor has dealt with the ups and downs of depression—a struggle he calls “the Woog.” Now he’s sharing what he’s learned, Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 12/13/23: “So chill the fuck out, stay with the systems, and keep moving.”
Boys Do Cry: How The Cure Helped Mainstream Male Emotion: on the Making and Legacy of One of the Band’s Most Beloved Songs, Simon Price, LitHub, 12/12/23: “It’s the chorus—pitching Robert’s emotional vulnerability versus received ideas of masculinity—that really resonates.”
So I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
—from “Boys Don’t Cry,” The Cure, by Laurence Andrew Tolhurst/Michael Stephen Dempsey/Robert James Smith
Politics and Economics
How can activists change the world? Experts offer seven strategies: The new book Practical Radicals takes inspiration from successful social movements to identify tactics that pay off, Stephen Greenhouse, The Guardian, 12/17/23. Book: Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World
Will a Democracy Movement Emerge to Take On the Growing Forces of Fascism? If Democrats don’t figure out a way to match the passion & fervor of Trump’s MAGA movement with their own passionate and action-driven movement, things could get very ugly for next year’s elections…Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 12/12/23
Arizona court weighs 1864 abortion ban that risks ‘conditions of misery:’ After months of disarray over the legality of abortion, the state supreme court will decide whether to reinstate ‘zombie’ ban, Carter Sherman, The Guardian, 12/12/23: “The ban blocks people from helping to “procure the miscarriage” of a pregnant woman and only allows abortions to save her life. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.”
America is killing it's mothers: Motherhood doesn’t have a marketing problem. It has a mortality problem, Lyz Lenz, Men Yell at Me, 12/13/23: “All moms are in jeopardy, whether they realize it or not.”
Why university presidents find it hard to punish advocating genocide − college free speech codes are both more and less protective than the First Amendment, Lynn Greenky, The Conversation, 12/11/23: “I am surprised by the presidents’ failure to respond clearly to Stefanik’s question. The primary purpose of schools is to educate. Private colleges and universities are governed by codes of conduct that support and carry out that objective.”
Can I Still Be a Patriot? It used to be so simple to proclaim love for your country. Now it takes some work, Alexis Coe, Esquire, 12/12/23: “I support Trump and his merry band of bozos’ right to fly flags, but I want no part of their patriotism. I’ll stick with my own, which is deceptively simple: I can be proud of the founding while reckoning with the ways we’ve fallen short and aspire to a better future.”
The Toxic GOP Plan to Ensure their Ownership of Women’s Bodies: Anthony Comstock's fingers are about to reach up out of the grave & with the help of Alito, Coney Barrett, and Thomas, wrap themselves around the necks of every American woman of childbearing...Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 12/14/23
Take Two: Why is Donald Trump beating Joe Biden in U.S. polls? David A. Hopkins on the transformational global forces driving support for Trump and the populist right, Michael Bluhm, David A. Hopkins, The Signal, 12/14/23: “Americans are unhappy about the state of their country, feeling it’s heading in the wrong direction. That sentiment is driving rising support for the populist right in the U.S.”
America’s Thirst for Authoritarianism, Charles M. Blow, NY Times, 12/14/23: “With Republicans beaconing authoritarianism, and without an intact Obama coalition to thwart it, our democracy hangs by a thread.” (Gift article)
Last Chance Ride: Autocracy, democracy, and what’s in store for 2024, Sarah Kendzior, Newsletter, 12/15/23: “I drive the highways of America like I’m reading its palm, and here is what I predict: Plutocrats will again market the corporate imposition of violent demagoguery as the common man’s cheap thrill. Pundits and politicians will — after decades of institutional corruption and erosion of voting rights — pretend that We, The People, choose our fate.”
Meet the woman working to stop the far-right creator money machine: Nandini Jammi is fighting to defund right-wing influencers like Alex Jones, Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post, 12/14/23: “Jammi co-founded Check My Ads, a nonprofit focused on accountability in ad tech.” (Gift Article). Join Check My Ads here.
China’s cyber army is invading critical U.S. services: A utility in Hawaii, a West Coast port and a pipeline are among the victims in the past year, officials say, Ellen Nakashima, Joseph Menn, Washington Post, 12/11/23 (Gift article)
Some thoughts on where the war in Ukraine is headed: And some perspective on what's happened already, Noah Smith, Noahpinion, 12/15/23: “…if the war ended tomorrow, it would be a technical Russian victory over Ukraine, but a strategic defeat for Russia and a successful independence struggle and nation-defining episode for Ukraine.”
What Justice Requires in Gaza: Israel went to war for a just cause. It is fighting that war, in too large part, unjustly, Jack Omer-Jackaman, Persuasion, 12/13/23: “How much injustice can a war contain before it is no longer a just war?”
How a Student Group Is Politicizing a Generation on Palestine: Activists with Students for Justice in Palestine have mobilized major campus demonstrations in support of Gaza—and provided an intellectual framework for protesters watching what’s happening in the Middle East, Emma Green, New Yorker, 12/15/23
There’s only one way out of this Gaza war and Netanyahu is blocking it. Joe Biden must force him from power: The Israeli leader opposes the viable way forward and now acts only for himself. The US president must save Israel from its PM, Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian, 12/15/23
In the West Bank, I saw how peace will require confrontation with Israel, David Ignatius, Washington Post, 12/16/23: “Is there a happy ending to this story? Probably not … But on my journey, I met so many brave Israelis and Palestinians who are working together to document obstacles to peace that I can see a way forward — if America has the guts to help them.
There is no Space or Time
Only intensity,
And tame things
Have no immensity.
— from “There is No Life or Death,” Mina Loy
Science and Environment
I discovered … a tiny 700-year-old forest within sight of North America’s busiest highway: I realised other ancient trees could have survived, right under our noses. In France, they discovered one tree that had started growing before the Romans left, Doug Larson, The Guardian, 12/14/23: “What I’ve learned philosophically about life from the ancient trees is peace and joy can be found in the slow, the cautious and the careful, as much as it can be in the rich and famous.”
Welcome to the extinction capital of the world: Our planet faces a mass extinction. I visited ground zero, Benji Jones, Vox, 12/14/23: “Scores of native Hawaiian species have been disappearing in recent decades, including many plants, birds, and insects.”
A Transformative Carbon Sink in the Ocean? Water-rock reactions in some hydrothermal systems produce both hydrogen, which could be tapped for clean energy, and alkaline solutions that could help draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide, Doug Reusch, Kayleigh Brisard, Gil Hamilton, Carson Theriault, EOS, 12/12/23
Latest planned Amazon dam project threatens Indigenous lands, endemic species, Beatriz Jucá, Leandro Barbosa, Monga Bay, 12/11/23: “An area the size of 9,500 soccer fields would be flooded for the dam’s reservoir, affecting a region that’s home to Indigenous territories, small and medium-sized family farms, and the ancestral territory of the Tapayuna Indigenous people.”
We raise 18 billion animals a year to die — and then we don’t even eat them: From farm to plate, one in four animals raised on factory farms are wasted, Kenny Torrella, Vox, 12/12/23
The Story of the Indigenous Wool Dog Told Through Oral Histories and DNA: A biologist, an anthropologist, Indigenous weavers, and an epic collaboration to unveil the life of an ancient dog breed found only in the Pacific Northwest, Devon Bidal, Hakai, 12/14/23
From saving owls to removing garbage: the unique work of Penticton Indian Band’s land Guardians: Far from untouched wilderness, the Guardians care for their urbanized Homelands with gentle compassion and expertise — and share it all on Facebook, kelsie kilawna, The Narwhal, 12/12/23
Panasonic’s New Powder-Powered Batteries Will Supercharge EVs: A company working with Tesla’s main US battery supplier has silicon-based tech that could soon give electric cars 500-mile ranges and charge refills in just 10 minutes, Carlton Reid, Wired, 12/12/23
Mind-reading AI can translate brainwaves into written text: A system that records the brain's electrical activity through the scalp can turn thoughts into words with help from a large language model – but the results are far from perfect, James Woodford, New Scientist, 12/12/23
The other explosive theory for the demise of dinosaurs, Kasha Patel, Washington Post, 12/10/23. Volcanos: “The volcanic eruptions would have been unlike anything we would have experienced in human history.”
Asteroid pieces brought to Earth may offer clue to life’s origin, Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, 12/11//23: “This is a career’s worth of material for thousands of researchers all over the world.” (Gift article)
Extra-Long Blasts Challenge Our Theories of Cosmic Cataclysms: Astronomers thought they had solved the mystery of gamma-ray bursts. A few recent events suggest otherwise, Charlie Wood, Quanta, 12/11/23
Supercomputer that simulates entire human brain will switch on in 2024: A neuromorphic supercomputer called DeepSouth will be capable of 228 trillion synaptic operations per second, which is on par with the estimated number of operations in the human brain, James Woodford, New Scientist, 12/12/23
What can we do with a sentence? The Dubai COP may have handed activists a new tool, Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years, 12/13/23: “The world’s nations have now publicly agreed that they need to transition off fossil fuels, and that sentence will hang over every discussion from now on—especially the discussions about any further expansion of the fossil fuel energy.”
Most US Voters Agree: Make Big Oil Pay for Climate Damage: "Voters resoundingly endorse fossil fuel companies contributing their fair share to address a crisis they helped manufacture and still refuse to help fix," said one campaigner, Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, 12/12/23
‘The future is renewable’: How a huge gamble sealed Cop28 deal: The signs were pointing to a lukewarm Cop. Instead it turned out to be full of surprises – but is the final deal on fossil fuels just a ruse? Fiona Harvey, The Guardian, 12/15/23: “Unless governments, businesses and individuals chose to move away from fossil fuels, and that is made a timely, funded and fair choice for all, robust demand will keep the fossil fuel industry afloat.”
The world now has a roadmap for food and climate. But it’s missing a few things: For one, the U.N.'s proposal barely mentions fossil fuels, Max Graham, Grist, 12/14/23
I Still Love You
Because when I fade out
you’re still there
as mine as no one ever was.
—John Wieners
Health and Wellness
The U.S. is unprepared for the growing threat of mosquito- and tick-borne viruses, Pien Huang, NPR, 12/15/23: “Global warming is expanding the range of some tropical insects and diseases.”
Chinese scientists develop powerful hydrogen therapy that could reverse ageing: Researchers say nanotechnology-based implant can deliver slow and steady release of the element for up to a week, Victoria Bela, SCMP, 12/13/23
Scientists Identify Cause of Morning Sickness, Potentially Ending Misery for Many: New treatments seek to control the hormone GDF15, which surges early in pregnancy, Dominique Mosbergen, Wall Street Journal, 12/13/23
All the Carcinogens We Cannot See: We routinely test for chemicals that cause mutations. What about the dark matter of carcinogens—substances that don’t create cancer cells but rouse them from their slumber? Siddartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 12/11/23
Birds
A robin: inside her small dark eye, a quantum entanglement: A symbol of spring and rebirth, the robin is a favourite of gardeners and inspiration for poets and dreamers, Helen Sullivan, The Guardian, 12/12/23: “Robins use the pictures in their eyes to migrate between Africa and Europe.”
These songbirds sing for hours a day to keep their vocal muscles in shape, Ari Daniel, NPR, 12/13/23: “If you apply the bird results to the humans, anytime you stop speaking, for whatever reason, you might experience a loss in vocal performance.”
Seabirds Can Help Predict the Size of Fish Stocks—If Only We’d Listen: The scientists who study terns, puffins, and other fish-eating birds are trying to get fisheries managers to heed their warnings, Abby McBride, Hakai, 12/11/23
World's Oldest Wild Bird, Wisdom The Albatross, Returns To Island Home: Wisdom has been coming home for around 70 years but once again her mate is not there waiting for her, Eleanor Higgs, IFL Science, 12/12/23
Hummingbirds' unique sideways flutter gets them through small apertures, Robert Sanders, Berkeley News, 11/9/23: “For slit-like gaps too narrow to accommodate their wingspan, they scooch sideways through the slit, flapping their wings continually so as not to lose height. For smaller holes — or if the birds are already familiar with what awaits them on the other side — they tuck their wings and coast through, resuming flapping once clear.”
The problem is that many members of Congress don’t want to see President Biden win on any front. People are incapable now of separating off ‘giving Biden a win’ from actually allowing Ukraine to win. They are thinking less about U.S. national security, European security, international security and foreign policy, and much more about how they can humiliate Biden. In that regard, whether they like it or not, members of Congress are doing exactly the same thing as Vladimir Putin. They hate that. They want to refute that. But Vladimir Putin wants Biden to lose, and they want Biden to be seen to lose as well.—Fiona Hill
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Pundits focus on future fascism to dodge discussion of current complicity. They avoid the question of why every US institution failed to curtail an obvious security threat for decades on end, regardless of which party was in charge. They ignore Biden’s apathy toward an attempted coup and how the US became the first country in world history to allow an unpunished seditionist to run for president again. They present a transnational security crisis as a domestic partisan feud.—Sarah Kendzior
December 16 was the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, a reminder that freedom and democracy are earned, fought and sacrificed for, and cannot be taken for granted.
My ongoing thanks to all of you who take the time to read this weekly compendium, and special thanks to all of you who have written to me. The weirdness - and approaching dangers - of each week just won’t let up. But we are in this together and sharing news and ideas does make a difference to how we feel about it and what we can do to make positive change.
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