The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces
The Weird Times: Issue 55, May 30 2021 (V2 #3)
The ignorant pay the price —Bob Lefsetz
If traveling is a fool’s paradise, then hand me those sunglasses and pass the beer — Robert Earl Keen
a world masculinity made
unfit for women or men
—Adrienne Rich, from “Merced” (1972)
Michael Richard Waltuch — September 17, 1949 - May 27, 2021
"...all the history of ancient and modern States is nothing more than a series of revolting crimes... present and past kings and ministers of all times and of all countries - statesmen, diplomats, bureaucrats, and warriors - if judged from the point of view of simple morality and human justice, deserve a thousand times the gallows of penal servitude."—Mikhail Bakunin, (born May 30, 1814)
Red Carnation
If one day to the cold cemetery I were to go,
brothers, cast on your sister,
like a final hope,
some red carnations in bloom.
In the final days of the empire,
as the people awoke,
red carnation, it was your smile
that told us all was reborn.
And now, go blossom in the shade
of dark and drear prisons,
go blossom near the somber captive,
and tell him we love him.
Tell him that in these changing times
everything belongs to the future;
that the victor with his pallid brow
can die as easily as the vanquished.
—Louise Michel, (born May 29, 1830)
Tulsa 1921
Two articles in today’s Washington Post inadvertently highlight the different ways we so often view history.
Tensions erupt in Tulsa as city commemorates 1921 race massacre
The Holocaust destroyed Jewish families. Genealogy can help rebuild them
Watch film of the Tulsa massacre of black people and the destruction of their community in 1921 and then think about the similar images we have of German, Lithuanian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Polish Jewish people and their communities in the 1930s and 1940s. The dynamic is identical, projecting state-sanctioned violence and theft of property against minority communities to promote the social and economic interests of the dominant culture.
The effects on the victims of this violence are experienced by individuals and their communities and last for generations.
Truth and understanding will not inoculate us, but we must confront our history in order to build a truly just society. “No justice without reparations” is a slogan of the current Tulsa community that must be respected. It could be conjoined with “No freedom without acknowledgment.”
And especially since this concerns Oklahoma, let us not forget that state’s history as part of the genocidal treatment of America’s indigenous people of the southeast and south.
What is sovereignty? A conversation about American colonialism, Jason Wilson, The Guardian, 5/28/21
We need to sit down at the table and renegotiate the colonial relationship, and move away from this very exploitative and predatory relationship that we have now.
Leaders in a colonial state, even if they are decent people, are still colonial leaders. But my hope is with the leadership that is coming up – like AOC and Deb Haaland and Stacey Abrams – that we will have colonial leaders we can sit down and talk to and negotiate with, and who can try to educate the American public about the nature of this relationship so that people will see that this is a reasonable thing to do.
There’s a realization, for example, that simply talking about reforming the police isn’t having any impact on the violence being meted out by the police against Black citizens in this country. It’s a structure that we inherited from a white supremacist state.
We’re still running on Democracy 1.0. I mean, other countries have rebuilt their government. We can play whack-a-mole and go after every single pipeline project. But a structure produces these outcomes. To change the outcomes, we need to change the structure itself. (Wilson interviewed Jacqueline Keeler, author of an essential book, Standoff: Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Sacred Lands)
‘You Strike A Match’ Why two women sacrificed everything to stop the Dakota Access pipeline, Julia Shipley, Grist, 5/26/21
“I am not going to choose fear,” Montoya said in 2017 to an audience of eco-activists in Minnesota, many of them old enough to be her parents or grandparents. “I’m looking at centuries in prison — and I feel more free.”
(A very long article I recommend reading in full.)
Pandemica
We Need To Get Real About How the Pandemic Will End: Even more transmissible new variants means that more people will get infected or vaccinated, and that's how it will all end, Zeynep, The Insight, 5/28/21
The latest news from the United Kingdom, which has better genomic surveillance than almost any other country and thus can allow us to disentangle causes of outbreaks better, is not good. The B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India, looks to be substantially more transmissible compared with even B.1.1.7, which was bad enough. The data is preliminary, and I really hope that the final estimate ends up as low as possible. But coupled with what we are observing in India and in Nepal, where it is rampant, I fear that the variant is a genuine threat.
In practical terms, to put it bluntly, it means that the odds that the pandemic will end because enough people have immunity via getting infected rather than being vaccinated just went way up.
Origin of Covid — Following the Clues: Did people or nature open Pandora’s box at Wuhan? Nicholas Wade, 5/2/21
In what follows I will sort through the available scientific facts, which hold many clues as to what happened, and provide readers with the evidence to make their own judgments. I will then try to assess the complex issue of blame, which starts with, but extends far beyond, the government of China.
By the end of this article, you may have learned a lot about the molecular biology of viruses. I will try to keep this process as painless as possible. But the science cannot be avoided because for now, and probably for a long time hence, it offers the only sure thread through the maze….
Neither the natural emergence nor the lab escape hypothesis can yet be ruled out. There is still no direct evidence for either. So no definitive conclusion can be reached.
That said, the available evidence leans more strongly in one direction than the other. Readers will form their own opinion. But it seems to me that proponents of lab escape can explain all the available facts about SARS2 considerably more easily than can those who favor natural emergence.
(from a very long article well worth reading in full)
Duck and Cover: The Future is upon Us
QAnon Now as Popular in U.S. as Some Major Religions, Poll Suggests: Fifteen percent of Americans believe that “patriots may have to resort to violence” to restore the country’s rightful order, the poll indicated, Giovanni Russinello, New York Times, 5/28/21
But it’s not just the notion that the election was stolen that has caught on with the former president’s supporters. QAnon, an outlandish and ever-evolving conspiracy theory spread by some of Mr. Trump’s most ardent followers, has significant traction with a segment of the public — particularly Republicans and Americans who consume news from far-right sources.
Most Republicans still believe 2020 election was stolen from Trump – poll: May opinion poll finds that 53% of Republicans believe Trump is the ‘true president’ compared with 3% of Democrats, Guardian Staff, The Guardian, 5/25/21
A majority of Republicans still believe Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election and blame his loss to Joe Biden on baseless claims of illegal voting, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
The 17-19 May national poll found that 53% of Republicans believe Trump, their party’s nominee, is the “true president” now, compared with 3% of Democrats and 25% of all Americans.
About one-quarter of adults believe the 3 November election was tainted by false allegations of illegal voting, including 56% of Republicans, according to the poll. The figures were roughly the same in a poll that ran from 13-17 November which found that 28% of all Americans and 59% of Republicans felt that way.
Taken
Poets invented
the rising moon
as a companion
on the long journeys
to visit themselves
in the prisons of tyrants
—Beau Beausoleil
Will Birds Save Us?
Connecticut Audubon Society 2021 Bird-a-Thon Photography Winners
Bird count reveals global pecking order, Bernard Lagan, Times of London, 5/27/21
The world has far fewer birds than previously thought, according to a study that has fused global birdwatchers’ observations with hard science to estimate population numbers for almost 10,000 species.
The research, the first of its kind, calculated that there are about 50 billion wild birds, far short of previous estimates including that of James Fisher, the British ornithologist and writer, who speculated in the 1950s that the global bird population exceeded 100 billion.
‘You care for birds, and they heal you’: film profiles world of a Black falconer: A new documentary, The Falconer, follows Rodney Stotts, who found fulfillment in working with raptors and inner-city kids, Rich Tenorio, The Guardian, 5/21/21
Rodney Stotts is one of the few Black falconers in the US. He works with raptors such as red-tailed hawks and Harris hawks, as well as with an owl named Mr Hoots. He is now the subject of a new documentary directed by Annie Kaempfer, The Falconer, that screened at the Atlanta film festival ahead of the second annual Black Birders Week (an event created after a white woman called the police on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park in New York last year, prompting a national outcry).
Science
New Diagnostic Tool Predicts The Risk of Alzheimer's With Astonishing Accuracy of 90%: Scientists in Sweden have developed a simple and reliable tool for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages. The prototype analyzes the results of a single blood test and three cognitive exams, which take only ten minutes to complete, Carly Cassella, Sciencealert, 5/26/21
"The algorithm will enable us to recruit people with Alzheimer's at an early stage, which is when new drugs have a better chance of slowing the course of the disease," says neuroscientist Oskar Hansson from Lund University in Sweden.
The researchers hope that their test - after additional improvements and tweaking - will one day make a major difference in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's, especially in places that can't afford expensive brain imaging technology or cerebrospinal fluid tests.
Nature Can Save Humanity From Climate Doom—but Not On Its Own: By restoring ecosystems, conservationists can help the land sequester carbon. But it's still no substitute for drastically cutting emissions, Matt Simon, Wired, 5/25/21
THE BIGGEST HINT nature ever gave humanity was when it sequestered fossil fuels underground, locking their carbon away from the atmosphere. Only rarely, like when a massive volcano fires a layer of coal into the sky, does that carbon escape its confines to dramatically warm the planet.
But such catastrophes hint at a powerful weapon for fighting climate change: Let nature do its carbon-sequestering thing. By restoring forests and wetlands, humanity can bolster the natural processes that trap atmospheric carbon in vegetation. As long as it all doesn’t catch on fire (or a volcano doesn’t blow it up), such “nature-based solutions,” as climate scientists call them, can help slow global warming.
Earlier this month, scientists put a number on how much of a reduction in global heating these solutions might buy us. Writing in the journal Nature, they used a previous calculation of how much carbon such campaigns could sequester and married that with global warming scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Basically, they tallied how much of a temperature change could be staved off by keeping this amount of carbon out of the atmosphere.
Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu Outbreak Already Reported in 46 Countries, Scientists Warn: While the world was distracted with the rampant spread of a novel coronavirus, 2020 also witnessed an explosion in another deadly pathogen that could pose a threat to global public health, Peter Dockrill, Science Alert, 5/24/21
"The affected geographic regions have been expanding continuously, and at least 46 countries have reported highly pathogenic H5N8 AIV outbreaks," virus researchers Weifeng Shi and George F. Gao write in a new perspective article in Science, warning of the dangers of H5N8 if we don't closely monitor and contain this worrisome trend.
Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications: Fewer babies’ cries. More abandoned homes. Toward the middle of this century, as deaths start to exceed births, changes will come that are hard to fathom, Damien Cave, Emma Bubola, Choe Sang-Hun, NY Times, 5/24/21
All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history that will make first-birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.
Read this article and then read Jonas Salk and Jonathan Salk’s A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future, to understand why and how this is happening.
RATATATAT: QUICK HITS
Valley Voice: We can get the nation to 90% clean energy by 2035. Here's how, Robert Headrick, Desert Sun, 5/23/21
The world’s reflation party may be spoilt by China hitting the brakes: Developments in Asia could prove a rude awakening for markets focused on US stimulus, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph, 5/27/21
A global metagenomic map of urban microbiomes and antimicrobial resistance, David Danko, Daniela Bezdan, Evan E. Afshin, Sibo Zhu, Christopher E. Mason, Cell, 5/26/21
Could these ultra-low-cost batteries be the lithium-free energy storage to power the renewable grid?:Noon Energy is building a rechargeable battery using cheap materials that it says will provide 100 hours of power, Adele Peters, Fast Company, 5/26/21
Engine No. 1’s big win over Exxon shows activist hedge funds joining fight against climate change, Mark DesJardin, Tima Bansal, The Conversation, 5/26/21
‘We’re going to have Fairy Creeks happen all the time’: Q&A with Garry Merkel from B.C.’s old-growth review panel: As tensions escalate and arrest tallies grow at logging blockades on Vancouver Island, The Narwhal spoke with one of the foresters tapped to help the province navigate its old-growth woes, Sarah Cox, The Narwhal, 5/25/21
The fastest ways aviation could cut emissions, Jocelyn Timperly, BBC, 5/25/21
Can tiny forests breathe fresh air into our cities? After gaining popularity across Asia, small, dense ecosystems are taking root in Europe's urban areas. Advocates say they improve biodiversity, air quality and even our well-being. But do they live up to the hype?Selma Franssen, DW, 5/25/21
Net-Zero Emissions: Winning Strategy or Destined for Failure? Net-zero emissions — balancing emissions by absorbing equivalent amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere — is the defining approach of international climate efforts. But some scientists are arguing that this strategy simply allows the perpetuation of the status quo and is certain to fail,
Fred Pearce, Yale 360, 5/25/21
This South L.A. startup will turn your front lawn into a farm: Crop Swap uses your front lawn to grow vegetables for a produce-subscription program. You get part of the revenue, Adele Peters, Fast Company, 5/25/21
‘We’ve gone through a global trauma’ Digiday Research shows feelings toward returning to the office remain mixed, Jessica Davies, Digiday, 5/26/21
UNCW researcher finds sponge that ‘eats’ toxic compounds, Trista Talton, Coastalreview.org, 5/19/21
‘Inhabitants’ Digs Deep Into Indigenous Solutions to Climate Change: The filmmakers behind a new documentary discuss Native land stewardship, building collaborative relationships with tribes, and the challenges of implementing Indigenous practices on a wider scale, Gosia Wozniacka, Civil Eats, 5/24/21
Greenland’s ice sheet is releasing huge amounts of mercury into rivers, Karina Shah, New Scientist, 5/24/21
“Hellcat” v. Big Oil: How a Great-Grandmother Is Fighting to Protect a Texas Fishing Bay: Plans to dredge a fragile Gulf Coast estuary and Superfund site are being ‘fast-tracked’ in a rush to export Permian oil to Europe,Jerry Redfern, Capital and Main, 5/21/21
Book Recommendations
Blood and Oranges: The Story of Los Angeles, James O. Goldsborough - a sweeping historical novel that covers the modern era of the most expansive city in the US, a story fraught with human foibles and exploitation we can’t avoid being engaged in.
Darrow’s Nightmare: The Forgotten Story of America’s Most Famous Trial Lawyer, Nelson Johnson - nonfiction, also an LA story, captivating narrative that helps us understand Darrow more clearly.
Magic City: A Novel, Jewel Parker Rhodes – a compelling novel set during the Tulsa attack of 1921.
Memorial Day began as “Decoration Day” to commemorate the dead of the Civil War. This holiday was originated by newly freed black Charlestonians in 1865, according to historian David Blight: “Pride of place as the first large scale ritual of Decoration Day, therefore, goes to African Americans in Charleston. By their labor, their words, their songs, and their solemn parade of flowers and marching feet on their former owners’ race course, they created for themselves, and for us, the Independence Day of the Second American Revolution.”
Well, now sweet 16's turned 31
Feel a little tired, feeling under the gun
Well, all of Chuck's children are out there playing his licks
Get into your kicks
Come back baby, rock and roll never forgets
Said you can come back baby, rock and roll never forgets
Oh, come back baby, rock and roll never forgets
—Rock and Roll Never Forgets, Bob Seger, Gear Publishing Company Inc.
Lunatic fringe
We all know you're out there
Can you feel the resistance?
Can you feel the thunder?
—Lunatic Fringe, Tom Cochrane (Red Rider), Sky Is Falling Ent., Inc.
Thanks for staying with me through the weeks (and years.) Best wishes to all, stay well, stay in touch, breathe through every moment.