The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces
The Weird Times: Issue 127, October 16, 2022 (V3 #23)
The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.—Peter Drucker
“I hope he comes, I’m gonna punch him out… I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I’m gonna punch him out, I’m gonna go to jail, and I’m gonna be happy.”—Nancy Pelosi
I’m a direct descendant of last words
& first punches. I got stolen blood.
My complexion is America’s
darkest hour.
—from “The Such Thing As the Ridiculous Question,” Siaara Freeman, Split This Rock
Politix
Standing on the Shoulders of Gnomes, Tomas Pueyo, Uncharted Territories, 10/11/22: “Most of our progress does not come from famous scientists riffing on each other’s work. We are not a bunch of gnomes resting on the edifice of accumulated wisdom built for us by giants resting on the shoulders of other giants. Progress comes from everyday people like you and me making their work slightly better every day, and building on our shoulders the edifice of human knowledge.
We are not gnomes standing on the shoulders of giants. We are a giant standing on the shoulders of gnomes.”
How Far Would a Republican Majority Go? Not just democracy is at stake this fall, Norm Ornstein, Atlantic, 10/12/22: “We have moved into a new and frightening era in American politics and governance, one when radicals intent on a revolution and craving major disruption will be not just a vocal minority but potentially dominating a governing body. We cannot risk the full consequences of that brutal reality.”
There’s Only One Group to Blame for How Republicans Flocked to Trump: And it’s not “the media,” David French, Atlantic, 10/14/22: “When Trump won, the base had its proof of concept.”
“In the End We Will Win”: The Faces of the Fight for Abortion Rights: The Supreme Court’s decision to end federal protections for abortion access didn’t just rewind the clock 50 years, it opened a Pandora’s box of confusing, potentially life-threatening legal complications. VF talks with five women on the front lines, Abigail Tracy, Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 10/12/22
Ending the Jan. 6 Hearings With a Trump Subpoena Was a Mistake: The former president is the problem, centering him is not the solution, Dahlia Lithwick, Slate, 10/13/22: “…am I fractionally even more terrified that in a few short weeks, a huge army of election deniers, corrupt secretaries of state, bullies and violent vigilantes will start laying down the tracks for the next coup? I am indeed…”
Criminally deceptive, Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, Popular Information, 10/4/22: “Many of the misleading ads are financed by the SLF, McConnell's Super PAC. The SLF recently received a $3 million donation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents virtually every major corporation in the United States.”
Peter Thiel’s midterm bet: the billionaire seeking to disrupt America’s democracy: Re-energized this election cycle, the tech entrepreneur joins other mega-donors apparently out to undercut the political system, Andrew Gumbel, The Guardian, 10/15/22
Reinventing Money: How did China go from "financial repression" to the global leader in "fintech" in only a matter of years? Martin Chorzempa, The Wire China, 10/2/22
Alex Jones ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook families, Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 10/12/22. Ed.: Finally, some justice for Sandy Hook families.
Saudi Arabia has screwed over the US – and the world – yet again. Enough is enough: By gouging global oil prices, Saudi Arabia has humiliated Biden and boosted Putin. The US must end this unofficial alliance, Mohamad Bazzi, The Guardian, 10/13/22
As Ukraine Goes, So Goes the World: A lecture on fascism, genocide, colonialism -- and renewed democracy, Timothy Snyder, Thinking About, 10/15/22: “…democracy can succeed when those who support it are aware of history, are aware of their own historical predicaments, and choose to act.”
Khamenei’s Dilemma: How far will Iran’s supreme leader go to suppress the protests that have rocked the Islamic Republic since mid-September? Christopher de Bellaigue, NYRB, 10/13/22
I'm over my head
Out of her head, she sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever be this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
—from “Everlong,” Foo Fighters, written by David Grohl
Science/Environment
Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970, report reveals: Huge scale of human-driven loss of species demands urgent action, say world’s leading scientists, Patrick Greenfield, The Guardian, 10/12/22: “The Living Planet Index combines global analysis of 32,000 populations of 5,230 animal species to measure changes in the abundance of wildlife across continents and taxa, producing a graph akin to a stock index of life on Earth.”
Alaska cancels snow crab season for first time after population collapses, Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 10/15/22. Ed: this is really scary.
East Antarctic glacier melting at 70.8bn tonnes a year due to warm sea water: Denman glacier in remote part of the continent could become unstable, possibly contributing to more sea level rise than predicted, Lisa Cox, The Guardian, 10/14/22
'Humble' worm saliva can break down tough plastic, Matt McGrath, BBC News, 10/4/22
One Great Shot: A Harlequin’s Feast: While it may be named for a comic pantomime character, the harlequin shrimp is serious about sea stars, Wayne Jones, Hakai, 10/13/22
Alzheimer’s treatment slowed cognitive decline in closely watched clinical trial, Damian Garde, Adam Feuerstein, STAT, 9/27/22
Signs of dementia may be detectable nine years before diagnosis – study: Findings by Cambridge researchers raise possibility of early interventions for those at risk, Andrew Gregory, The Guardian, 10/13/22
Krembil Brain Institute researchers identify new model of Alzheimer's as an autoimmune disease, Press Release, UHN, 9/27/22
Lab-Grown Human Cells Form Working Circuits in Rat Brains, Allison Whitten, Quanta, 10/13/22
WATCH: A Dish of Brain Cells Figured Out How to Play Pong in 5 Minutes, Michelle Starr, Science Alert, 10/13/22
Love Nature? Your Lawn Says Otherwise: A new homeowner digs deep into the world of native gardening after learning her yard is an environmental sin, Lauren Matison, Outside, 10/12/22
How robotic honeybees and hives could help the species fight back: Robots that can monitor conditions in a hive, do a waggle dance, or even infiltrate the queen’s court could help scientists influence the health of a colony, Elizabeth Preston, MIT Technology Review, 10/10/22
Engineers use the sun to roast New Mexico’s famous green chiles: Traditionally, the peppers are roasted by burning propane, but that releases carbon pollution, YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 10/10/22
How a New ‘Battery Data Genome’ Project Will Use Vast Amounts of Information to Build Better EVs: Researchers launch a project that could significantly improve our understanding of how different variables affect battery performance, Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News, 10/12/22
These cities turned parks into orchards where anyone can pick for free: In the United States and elsewhere, land is being converted to offer free fruits and vegetables, ‘no questions asked,’ Cathy Free, Washington Post, 10/10/22
These Sci-Fi Visions for Interstellar Travel Just Might Work: Les Johnson, author of the new book A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars, talked to WIRED about solar sails and more ways to get farther into the final frontier, Ramin Skibba, Wired, 10/11/22
Human Prehistory—Why New Discoveries About Human Origins Open Up Revolutionary Possibilities, Jan Ritch-Frel, Pressenza, 10/14/22
One of the rules of writing that stands throughout time: do not be complacent. Take risks. And most important, listen. Our ears are bent differently based on the culture, environment, and shape of the forming story as we exist in time and place. We flow from the many lines of ancestry we inherit, from family, practice, and place.—Joy Harjo, from Catching the Light
Books and Kulchur
The Illusion of the First Person: A historical survey of the personal essay shows it to be the purest expression of the lie that individual subjectivity exists prior to the social formations that gave rise to it, Merve Emre, NYRB, 11/3/22 issue
Lizzo Is Here to Talk About All of It—That Flute, That Lyric, Her Man, and More: The Emmy-and Grammy-winning superstar flautist gives Vanity Fair insight into her art, and the nuances of positivity, Lisa Robinson, Vanity Fair, 10/11/22
How Women Writers Speculated Fictional Futures Free From Patriarchal Control: On the Feminist History of Science Fiction, Lisa Yaszek, LitHub, 10/11/22: “Feminist science fiction authors were… bound together by a shared set of goals, using their art to demonstrate the limits of patriarchal culture and articulate the possibility of more egalitarian alternatives for all.” Book: The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin, edited by Lisa Yaszek
Hilma af Klint: Swedish mystic hailed as the true pioneer of abstract art: Almost 80 years after her death, a biography will be published this month, Tate Modern plans a 2023 exhibition, and she is the subject of a film, as she is finally recognised as a visionary artist, Dalya Alberge, The Guardian, 10/16/22
How Hate-Fueled Misinformation and Propaganda Grew in Nazi Germany: “It is inconceivable that for an indefinite period the 65 million people in Germany will endure it,” Tom Dunkel, LitHub, 10/13/22. Book: WHITE KNIGHTS IN THE BLACK ORCHESTRA: The Extraordinary Story of the Germans Who Resisted Hitler
Trouble in River City: Two recent books examine the idea of the Midwest as a haven for white supremacy and patriarchy, Caroline Fraser, NYRB, 10/20/22 issue: Imagining the Heartland: White Supremacy and the American Midwest, by Britt Halvorson, Joshua Reno, and My Three Dads: Patriarchy on the Great Plains, by Jessica Crispin
What Ghost Stories Taught Me About My Queer Self: On literary ghosts, queer invisibility, and coming of age, then and now, Nell Stevens, New Yorker, 10/15/22: “…when I look forward into an uncertain future, what I find is ghosts: an absence that is intimate, abundant, rebellious, and almost enough.”
On Life in Ukraine and the Pressure of a World that Never Feels Safe: “I don’t feel safe in a safe place precisely because I am safe,” Kateryna Babkina, LitHub, 10/14/22: “I invented a mantra or a spell—an affirmation: I will survive and manage to do it all.”
‘Animism’ recognizes how animals, places and plants have power over humans – and it’s finding renewed interest around the world, Justine Buck Quijada, The Conversation, 10/13/22
Can Black Literature Escape the Representation Trap? A crop of recent novels strains against the expectations of a publishing industry attempting to embrace diversity, Ismail Muhammed, NY Times Magazine, 10/14/22
i sit here drinking memories
entertainin ghosts/ longin for arms
no longer warm/ too enchanted
to tend the pulse pushin me on
to go off from you/ my dead & loved ones
—Ntozake Shange, from “for my dead & loved ones”
Birds/Skies
‘It’s a serious problem’: battle to save Griffon vulture heats up in Cyprus: Eight of the birds of prey are released into wild on island where use of poison bait has left them virtually extinct, Helena Smith, The Guardian, 10/10/22
Birds report finds losses in all habitats, except wetlands, Krishna Ramanujan, Cornell Chronicle, 10/12/22
Farmland birds best protected by leaving fallow areas for two or more years, letting native plants grow, Universitaet Tübingen, Phys.org, 10/12/22
Researchers confirm a new songbird hybrid in western Pa., Jillian Forstadt, WITF, 10/10/22
Forever will be a day like this
Strung perfectly on the necklace of days.
—Joy Harjo, from “Fall Song”
I have spent my life in books; literature has deeply dyed my brain its own color. This literary coloring is a protective one--like the brown of the rabbit or the checks of the quail--making it impossible for me to tell where literature ends and I begin. --Nathanael West
So open up your care and leave it everywhere
And every now and then (every now and then)
You think of home again (home again)
Home was always waiting for you
—from “Sky Above,” Jacob Collier/Rebecca Thomas Stevens
It’s only a few more weeks before an election that may change our lives completely. We seem to be meandering toward calamity. Maybe that is just the way it works.
Today I am sending love to one of my oldest friends who reads this newsletter weekly and sends me comments and complaints with regularity. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon, M.
Congratulations to the winning National League underdogs, the Phillies and Padres.
Love to all in this quiet time before the storm. Stay well, stay engaged, keep in touch. —David