2023-07-29
Readings
Mechanisms by which mitochondria signal to their host cells: https://phys.org/news/2023-07-mitochondria-stress.html
A mercury flyby mission: https://scitechdaily.com/bepicolombos-space-odyssey-third-mercury-flyby-reveals-geological-wonders/?expand_article=1
Theories about a past simpler state of plate tectonics on Terra: https://phys.org/news/2023-07-proof-earth-plate-tectonics-underwent.html
Better understanding of how the early stages of insulin synthesis in biology work: https://phys.org/news/2023-07-revealing-biology-insulin-production.html
Mechanisms of cell fate conversion - one of the mechanisms of cell specialisation: https://phys.org/news/2023-06-reveal-cells-rewrite-fate.html
A pretty cool device that can listen in on USB communications: https://hackaday.com/2023/07/16/sleuth-untrusted-usb-communication-with-usbvalve/
Means to mix properties in composites: https://phys.org/news/2023-07-approach-properties-composite-materials.html
Invars: metals that don’t undergo thermal expansion, and one mechanism leading to it: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/some-alloys-dont-change-size-when-heated-we-now-know-why
Thoughts
As Oppenheimer (due to a film) has been in the news, I thought I’d write on one of my strongest historical-moral convictions - that the birth of nuclear weapons was a catastrophe and that the US use of them in WW2 was a deep and inexcusable moral failing. The argument is short - that legitimate targets of war are generally military (there are limited exceptions we might imagine), that use of radically destructive weapons like nuclear weapons against a city was grossly irresponsible (even given the warnings) and grossly immoral, far worse than a conventional war, and that pulling humanity into an era where threats of such weapons became real was a terrible change. It has been a strange thing to deal with that a scientific hero of mine, Vaneevar Bush, was involved in the Manhattan Project that produced such terrible weapons, but it has also perhaps given me an easy and early antidote to the idea of really having heroes to look up to in the fullest sense. So many of the biggest or most important ideas I can think of (whether truly brilliant or just around at the right time) came from people who did terrible things that it’s really impossible for me to look up to anyone. Bill Cosby was another example of someone who I first appreciated as an actor and then as a thinker (through the Pound Cake Speech), only to be deeply disappointed by his personal sexual conduct. But this is the nature of humanity. We should not put our faith in people that way. We should not expect that great ideas (or even good entertainment) need to come from people who are morally decent, because few people really are. And to an extent, the idea of the unitary person, so easily judged as good or bad, is flawed.
What taboos should we have? I probably grew up with less than most northerners, got rid of many, I had, while much of the world grew more. There are some taboos about mentioning some things that are true but might support (or “wink at”, in some phrasings) terrible conclusions, such as the fact that some Amerindian tribes kept African-descended slaves, or (recently relevant) a lot of other things about slavery in the US or the US South in general, making any kind of nuanced discussion on these topics hazardous (although a fair amount of conservative discussion on these topics is often not as nuanced as it purports to be, or undermines its efforts by pairing a fair and nuanced statement with an appointment of an actual racist, making wading through these controversies something that reveals fanatics on both sides).
Current Events
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. Ukraine continues to trade ground as new western weapons are delivered, while Russia continues to shell civilians and threaten civilian ships; the food politics around the Russian invasion have left a lot of the rest of the world suffering, which Russia has attempted to play in its favour in building African alliances. Poland and Lithuania are continuing to see provocations from Russian mercenary forces nearing their borders from the Belarusian side
Climate changes across the world, with the hottest month on record, have led to fires across southern europe and hot-tub like conditions in the ocean around Florida. It’s worrying what this will do to marine life.
An election in Spain, with the conservative People’s Party becoming the largest party but not gaining a majority in Congress
A military coup in Niger, begun by members of the presidential guards and then solidified as the military decided to back the plotters and then the Wagner Group the military dictatorship, removed President Bazoum, leading to widespread condemnation and threats of withdrawl of aid and cooperation from western countries. The region has suffered frequent military coups
A sham election was held in Cambodia, with the usual results
The free-speech protests in Europe continue to mirror anti-blasphemy protests in Muslim-majority countries, in what will likely be a long-term conflict unless one side backs down.
Courts in Hong Kong have surprisingly stood up to China’s government, refusing to ban a popular anti-government protest song, “Glory to Hong Kong”. I suspect longer term, as remnants of HK’s former culture and legal system are digested into China’s, the cited chilling effects on freedom of expression will no longer hold water, but it’s interesting to see this is possible for the courts at this point in time in China’s system
Having passed his new law gutting (in theory - the courts may in fact overturn the law, which would set up a “who-wins” crisis) judicial oversight, Israeli PM Bibi expects to use his now-unchecked legal powers to reappoint felon Aryeh Deri who would otherwise be disqualified by the courts, to high political office. Protests continue against the power grab
Polls
A 27-country survey on China’s foreign policy, which suggests that it’s generally negatively-perceived, but not quite as much so in middling countries. I’m more wary of China on particular topics than in general; if they were to give up all ambitions on Taiwan (and treat it as the independent country that it is), be less aggressive in claiming international waters and islands, and stop propping up North Korea, I’d not be worried about their foreign policy - much of the rest of the things they do are what I expect large rival powers to do. (Their domestic policy is another matter; a lack of political pluralism or tolerance for internal criticism is a problem). Still, being a large, developed nation with a culture that has stood the test of time, China has impressive technological and cultural achievements, and its economic developments since the policy shifts made by Deng Xiaopeng have been impressive. If it ever opens itself, slowly or quickly, to a less control-focused political and economic system, I think it could do the world a lot of good. Right now I don’t see China as a threat to the US, more of an unfriendly rival that I hope will not become a threat https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2023/07/27/chinas-approach-to-foreign-policy-gets-largely-negative-reviews-in-24-country-survey/
A Marist Poll on 2024 Presidential Candidates, and my spot thoughts on some of them (remember, I am an independent Liberal): https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/the-2024-presidential-candidates/
I naturally view Trump extremely negatively, more because I think he abused the office and would abuse it again than because he’s on the right. I don’t think it’s appropriate to have someone as POTUS who wants personal rather than national loyalty of his subordinates, who won’t follow any ethical rules or norms, and who regularly disregards the vast array of experts our system arranges to make available to such an important decisionmaker. His Presidency was a disaster. His style of politics is a disaster. The insurrection attempt was a final proof of how close we had to a lot of deaths in the capital. We can’t have that kind of thing again. Him or anyone trying to emulate him is a no-go; old-style Republican politics are fine, but nothing Trumpy.
DeSantis is less of a mess, but is still a mess, with a lot of the same stupid swagger, pettiness, and disregard of expertise that Trump had. Is Trump-lite the best they can do?
Tim Scott seems to have a few of the normal set of Republican weird ideas, but I don’t see him as deeply unsuitable for the presidency. He seems one of the better people running on the Republican platform.
Mike Pence has a history. He made it alright for evangelicals to set aside their reservations and vote for Trump, and then they really set aside those reservations and ditched him for Trump. He’ll gingerly criticise Trump for the insane threats to Pence’s safety, without genuinely breaking with him. So weird. Hard to imagine voting for someone who refuses to step out from the shadow of an abuser.
Haley can’t seem to figure out whether to try to be a Trump toadie or be respectable, and can’t get enough momentum either way to do anything interesting. The right really needs some people to lead it out of its Trump dark place, and if Haley would show some spine and intellect she might be able to lead them there.
Christie has a Cuomo problem, in that he has a guaranteed base of Sicilian-Americans who understand that he’s their guy, but also everyone else knows what that means and he fits that mold all too well. And the country’s a bit sick of the politics that came with the political class that that community built. Cuomo’s shown some late courage in pushing against Trump, but people remember the bridge thing too and an endless trail of other minor scandals. He just doesn’t look presidential.
On to Biden, I think people get that he’s going to be, unless mother nature throws us a curveball (as he’s very old), the Democratic nominee. He’s old, bland, and he’s not entirely in charge of the party vehicle, having let some fellow Liberals and some Progressives (even some very weird Progressives) share the steering wheel. We’re all okay with that, I guess, even if nobody’s thrilled and we realise that this is just a temporary peace
Robert Kennedy is just an annoying clown with a loose tie to the Dems. There have long been a few oddballs on the left, and for now he gets to make some noise and distract from bigger issues. He’s always been nutty, and continues to be nutty. Watching him be awkwardly confronted with a list of his own quotes was delicious.
Marianne Williamson is another one of those, for people who even remember who she is.
A worrying AP-NORC poll suggests that about 7 of 10 US adults believe in angels, far higher I think than most other westernised countries. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/nearly-7-in-10-u-s-adults-believe-in-angels-ap-norc-poll-finds
Policy Focus
A fanciful policy: It’d be cute to have a “yes, we get it law, please STFU about it” law establishing a sunset about non-bottom-tier toilet paper manufacturers explaining how 1 roll of their product is the equivalent of 230 rolls of cheap product for the next few centuries
NYS’s State Asembly recently passed a bill that would, alongside a state senate bill, put a total ban on noncompete agreements in the state. I support this bill - while in some cases I think there’s room for limited exceptions, in general I think noncompete agreements are bad for workers (and at the very least should take the form of garden leave when they must be done); otherwise they effectively stop people from using their skills to make a living
The US has been readying an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon that may aim to force it to divest parts of its business; I think my thoughts on this would depend on how it’s structured. I think it’d be good to see more distance between Amazon-as-a-marketplace and Amazon-as-a-supplier, as right now the leverage Amazon has over small businesses is considerable, and it can use that leverage to gain a lot of proprietary information about a company while simultaneously becoming a competitor to it, potentially selling at a loss to take over its economic niche, once it knows such a niche is viable. I think as a general rule we should be wary of marketplaces participating in their markets - (almost) anytime that is the case it should eventually lead to a spinoff of the marketplace, with fair-and-neutral rules. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/25/ftc-lawsuit-break-up-amazon-00108130
Reviewlets
The Final Girl Support Group (Novel - Thriller) - Really enjoying this; I’m not a big fan of the genre it’s related to, so getting it was a bit of a time-gamble, but so far it’s turning out great, in a way where I suspect it’d not work nearly as well as a film (it goes into mentality and planning and fight-or-flight). Excellent characterisation. I’m a bit less than halfway through.
Jody Tea Shoppe (Manhattan bubble tea place) - I rarely go here because it’s a bit out of the way, but they do a good job at making a variety of attractive bubble teas, and their ingredients are nice and fresh.
Razer Sneki Snek Plushie (Plush snake) - If you’re into small-midsized plush snakes, this thing is cute. It’s not useful in any way, but it’s not bad for decoration if you like cute monsters. I wish they offered some bigger sizes.
(broke my tablet; won’t be reading as much in the near term while I deal with that)
Amusements
Roman Emperor Nero’s Theatre was recently unearthed in Rome: https://apnews.com/article/italy-four-seasons-c3723a4f66ddba7a2a5161881398d76e
A dance floor found in the Andes that seems to have been designed to produce a rumbling thunder-like sound, presumably used for cultural and/or religious purposes: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278416523000314
Part amusement, part essay on an American (and populist) political malaise, and partly just somebody talking about a videogame, this is someone digging into Senator Armstrong from the Metal Gear series:
Recent Music
Ain’t No Sunshine - Bill Withers - I’ve dreamed of strange remixes of this song, like gears carrying parts of the voices around to meet in the necessary parts, clockwork, in endless elaborations. In rounds. It’s glorious. The original is rich soil for such expeditions. A song that launches a thousand variations.
Here Come the Philistines - Panorama Jazz Band - This song is drunk, stumbling over its feet, leaving its socks and everything all over the place. Still lovable, somehow, even though everybody knows it is a mess. And while everybody tells it to clean up its act, people secretly hope it will not because they like to watch.
Business - Eminem - I don’t remember who got me mildly into Eminem for awhile many years ago (might’ve been one of my exes); I almost couldn’t stand looking at the guy, but so long as I hadn’t done so recently (and so was distant from the machismo and image and stuff), I could appreciate the technical aspect of the music and refocus on its more silly aspects, purged of the icky bits that would otherwise be too in-my-face. The person under all of that had too much drama for me to deal with (at the time I had real-life people who had all the drama I could deal with). I think this is generally how I can appreciate hip-hop (apart from its less “street” forms) - despite, rather than because, of the personas the artists wear.