2023-08-05
Readings
Determination of the shape that Lithium would take were it not to corrode almost immediately (and a possible technique to limit such corrosion): https://phys.org/news/2023-08-true-lithium-revealed.html
Microchip-implant methods to restore connectivity over gaps in a damaged spinal cord: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-movement-quadriplegia.amp
Efforts towards precise (and cheap) control of crystal formation in a gel, with possible applications in optics and electronics: https://phys.org/news/2023-08-low-tech-high-tech-materials.html
More engineering than science, it’s still interesting to follow efforts to develop robotic grippers with a variety of properties, which will have a number of applications from prosthetics to telepresence: https://newatlas.com/robotics/novel-kirigami-inspired-robotic-grippers-strong-gentle-precise/
NASA lost (and then heard back) from Voyager 2 after a mistake led to misalignment and loss of contact with the distant probe: https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/nasa-hears-heartbeat-signal-from-voyager-2-probe-a-week-after-losing-contact
A short piece on how long asteroids survive: https://www.space.com/asteroids-how-long-can-survive
India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has entered lunar orbit, on an impressively low budget; a lunar landing will be attempted next: https://phys.org/news/2023-08-indian-lunar-mission-moon-orbit.html
Thoughts
What of when terrible wrongs must be done to establish something lasting and good? Two works of fiction have led me to think of this - the best episode in all of Star Trek (In the Pale Moonlight), and a game I recently finished (Dark Souls 3), both of which have a terrible status quo and the only realistic hope of escape sitting with doing what look to be fairly great wrongs. This kind of fiction, seen as bad moral instruction by the Roman Catholics, was partly excised from American culture through the Hays Code; more recently we’ve seen some careful mocking of such simplistic lenses (although superhero films still keep the framing) and it tends more to get a light rebuke than the mockery that it probably deserves, because the childish view is well-intended and is a good thing to try for, it’s just bad as an insistence. Getting that nuance right - that we really should try to minimise harms, but accept them when we must - that’s difficult. Or to phrase it another way, that we should become monsters when we must but only to the extent that we must, and otherwise try to live as gentle beasts. Both when in power and when not. It is and should be dangerous to rob someone - people should not be so docile as to be reliably robbed without danger.
One of the most important marks of character that I want in any kind of leader is an ability to honestly evaluate things one has tried. If one can’t have honest conversations about these things, talk about successes and failures, things learned, and the like - if one can’t even imagine these kinds of conversations, then somebody is not suitable for any kind of leadership. People who we can only imagine boosting themselves, never talking of failures, weaknesses, faults, and the like, we should just talk on the junkpile and move on. They’re of no use. Even in times of crisis. Especially in times of crisis.
Current Events
Ukraine - The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, with Ukraine frustratingly slowly regaining bits of its territory, and forces in Belarus now committing airspace violations of NATO neighbours. It’s unclear whether things will settle into a stalemate or whether Ukraine will continue to slowly get its land back; the slow pace remains frustrating.
Pressure from regional and other countries on the illegitimate military leadership of Niger has so far not been successful in getting them to stand down and restore the civilian government, nor is it likely to be; part of the problem is that the civilian government was a minority government in a country with a history of coups, and that most neighbouring governments are also military dictatorships (e.g. Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali). Efforts to assemble a military coalition to unseat them may run into opposition from Wagner or possibly some aid from neighbouring military dictatorships.
Imran Khan, former PM of Pakistan (and terrible leader), was arrested for graft in his country. Rahul Gandhi, opposition leader in India (who was convicted for insulting Modi’s surname, a ridiculous charge), was released after the charge was overturned and intends to return to politics. Alexey Navalny, opposition leader in Russia, was sentenced to an additional 19-year prison sentence for his anti-corruption organisation activities which have been branded as extremist.
Polls
An interesting Pew poll on housing preferences in the US, suggesting a little over half of Americans seem to prefer large houses over local amenities. I think that style could be described as suburban. The way this all works in practice is that there’s some degree to which people either sort or eventually-sort towards their preference, the latter meaning settling for something different for awhile. And as for me, I’m of two minds; I live in NYC and enjoy city life, but would also enjoy living in a mid-sized home in the middle of nature (no community, not a suburb, but with electricity and water and ideally some kind of good internet if possible). Ideally splitting my time between two homes, so I can have that garden and walks in the woods and everything, but also dip my toe into the rich cultural life that the city gives me now. But I’ve never actually tried that. Still, interesting to see data on this and think about that sorting aspect. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/02/majority-of-americans-prefer-a-community-with-big-houses-even-if-local-amenities-are-farther-away/
Marist reports that American views on the relative importance of addressing climate change versus economic growth are becoming increasingly party-tied views. Because of the longer impact of climate change, and my views of the unsustainability of perpetual economic growth (or population growth), I lean pretty hard on the side of preferring to refactor the world economies towards more ecological sustainability: https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/views-on-climate-change-getting-more-partisan/
Policy Focus
NYC has been struggling with refugees. Significantly because of a successful political play by southern states to make sure that perceived liberal areas of the country feel the pain for their supposed preferred policies of open borders by shipping all the refugees they can to the city. Our mayor, thankfully, is not actually a Progressive, and has been grumbling about this influx and trying to get the federal government to do something about the influx while also arranging for some of them to be re-shipped upstate. Recently he’s been exploring the possibility of keeping some of then in makeshift spaces in public parks, although this is unlikely to be popular; he’s amplifying public pressure on the White House in ways that are fracturing the alignment between Progs and Libs on the issue. I welcome this - the Progressive stance is damaging the country and the party and marginalising it as much as possible as soon as possible is better for both. https://gothamist.com/news/adams-weighs-plan-to-set-up-migrant-tents-in-central-park-other-major-green-spaces
This is a reminder that either Mexico has the same struggles the US has with a central government to free speech but backwards local government continually testing it, or alternatively little commitment to free speech as a whole; this news report mentions that as of July 2023, the city council of Chihuahua voted to establish fines on music performances that are deemed to promote violence against women. I won’t claim that the most effective way to deal with one kind of speech is other speech. I hope that’s true, but to me this is purely a matter of principle ; free speech is a foundational principle for a good society, and even if it means giving up on other kinds of goodness it’s still worth keeping that kind of commitment. No other kind of argument is necessary (or even appropriate, given that other kinds of argument might easily be knocked down, depending on specifics): https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/02/americas/chihuahua-mexico-bans-misogynistic-lyrics-scli-intl/index.html
Another policy bit on another country, this is another reminder of how backwards some other countries can be in terms of the political issues they have open. In this case, it’s Israel and the amount of government spend it sends towards hiring rabbis, and how arguments over the particular religious flavour of those rabbis is a regular political football. There are a lot of other countries that have inadequate separation of church and state (inadequate through American eyes, at least) - countries with an established Church with tax funding and the like. Israel has a fairly strong form of this with the religious establishment controlling marriage and having draft exemptions for people they favour, among other things. The article mentions Shas, a Sephardic/Mizrahic Frum party that’s wormed its way into most ruling coalitions for the last several decades and maintained these privileges. Some years back I had hope that Shinui, a party that aimed to be their antithesis, would gain power and gut all this stuff, but that movement fell apart. https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-bill-could-create-jobs-for-1070-rabbis-cost-taxpayers-tens-of-millions-annually/
I am very wary of the Warren-Graham proposal to create a Federal Commission to regulate digital platforms; it’s bipartisian, but that doesn’t make it good. Having skimmed it, I am not convinced that this is necessary or well-structured (even though there are some parts of it that I like, such as most of the section on competition, and others where I am as of yet undecided): https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-graham-unveil-bipartisan-bill-to-rein-in-big-tech
Amusements
A bathroom expert breaks down the most interesting bathrooms in Washington DC: https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/07/27/most-interesting-bathrooms-in-dc/
Watched a bit of this, a hitless run of Elden Ring played with a Saxophone controller; the idea of this strikes me as weird because I can’t imagine playing anything this long with a single goof ending the experiment. It reminds me though of how, when we learn to drive a car, how we eventually come to feel that we are the car:
Zoo penguins on an adventure:
Recent Music
Grey Matter - Oingo Boingo - One of my favourite Oingo Boingo songs. A big part of it is the complexity of the rhythms that the song plays with
Mi Otra Mitad De Naranja - Tosca Tango Orchestra - Waking Life was a film that either introduced me to or reinforced in me a certain nightmare, of being trapped inside one’s mind. I don’t recall if that’s when I first heard of that idea, but it’s become a persistent thought, a fear or wonder. The film glued this band’s music into it; many years later I made a webcomic exploring the idea for awhile, I think having forgotten the tie (origin?) until now at least. The music feels timeless, almost stateless, at least in the longer sense. Perfect for the film.
Ladies for Compassionate Lynching - Chumbawamba - This song more than anything else represents most of the band’s music; it’s music that’s set up as if it were a dad joke. Vaguely catchy, yet ultimately forgettable. Not like Salt Fare, North Sea, which is actually quite memorable (and hurts a bit).