2023-11-18
Readings
Another mechanism of cell specialisation during division: how identity is managed: https://phys.org/news/2023-11-3d-genome-theoretical-cell-identity.html
Trying to understand why models of motion don’t match observed motion as objects leave the solar system: https://www.iflscience.com/the-pioneer-anomaly-what-happened-to-old-nasa-probes-at-20-astronomical-units-71519
Varied intelligence of dogs and how communication defaults differ: https://phys.org/news/2023-11-dogs-world-salient-smarter.html
Making stem cell treatments of glaucoma more effective: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-potential-glaucoma-treatment-strategy-stem.html
A catalogue of the private militias of the world (ideally we’d aim to shut all of these down): https://special-ops.org/top-9-private-military-companies-in-the-world/
Penguin identity comes from dots: https://www.science.org/content/article/not-just-tuxedo-african-penguins-identify-mates-their-polka-dots
Discussion on China’s economic strategies and status:
An analysis on recent Nederlandish politics: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67399766
A sober discussion of India under Modi (who I see as, alongside hundutva in general, ruining India):
Thoughts
One of the reasons I think I haven’t “moved with the times” as much as many people I know, on social values, is that at various parts in my life I learned to write down what I think and to use that to try to make things more consistent and coherent; most people don’t do this and don’t seriously contemplate policy, with their intuitions appearing and disappearing as various topics come into view from current events, usually guided by whatever camp they’re in. When you write it down, that’s an anchor and makes it possible for movements and parties to move without one being tugged along. I don’t regret this exactly, although it has led to some value-loneliness and made me more likely to fight others on the Left.
I’ve been thinking about enumerating the idea of “the Big Boy Table” in international politics, as a solid answer to “why do certain countries get judged more harshly for acts that others get a pass on”. We expect more from countries that hold themselves as modern and candidates for being an exemplar, and we treat regression as more serious than low standards. If a serious country does war on its neighbours, it is more of a loss than some shitty little backwards country that has always been doing so, because we expect and hope that eventually all countries will advance into the modernity project. That’s the intuition; it’s probably worth digging into what that project is and making the case for it as a concept.
Current Events
The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. with Ukraine continuing to slowly gain ground in the southeast occupied areas, Russia continuing to threaten nuclear weapons, and the assault over the ruins of Avdiivka continuing. The Russian navy has suffered setbacks in the Black Sea, while Ukraine continues to set the stage for a possible attempt at retaking Crimea. Finland has closed some of its border crossings with Russia to stem illegal immigration
The Israeli siege on Gaza continues, with the US and other countries continuing to slowly distance themselves from Israel’s level of gusto and the resulting mounting civilian losses. The fascist cabinet member in Israel’s government, Bezalel Smotrich, continues to call for ethnic cleansing, while Bibi’s popularity in Israel is plummeting.
The echoes of the Israel-Hamas war continue to be felt in debates over free speech, celebration of terrorism, and private versus government action. Notably, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei was cancelled from a London exhibition over his comments on geopolitics and history.
Guatemala’s surprise election win has been seeing legal challenges to presedent-elect Arevalo and his party by the outgoing administration
David Cameron has returned to British politics as Foreign Secretary
Content
I did a quick video on the US GPU export policy:
Polls
Where we assign blame when different sides line up against each other and won’t budge is a big part of political difference; here’s a poll ( https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/the-looming-government-shutdown/ ) on how a possible government shutdown in the US over the failure to pass a budget would be weighed; I agree with the majority that threatening government shutdowns over negotiation should not be acceptable, but I also think we should fix our system to take away the possibility of political blackmail over this. As I’ve suggested several other times in my newsletters, I suggest automatically continuing the old budget (as closely as possible) if a new budget is not passed, or something like that
Gallup Poll on how Americans see crime ( https://news.gallup.com/poll/544442/americans-crime-problem-serious.aspx ) - this has been more political yet, as Progressives have been trying to pry at certain crime policy on the basis that standing policy ruined lives, while others often worry about them going overboard. My phrasing there suggests my perspective on this - existing policies were often flawed and improvable, but the Progressive movement finds it easier to talk with itself rather than pragmatically taking part in more moderate coalitions that would more gradually improve things. This is a common failing of Progressive movements (but understandable given how political camps work)
More polls moving in the wrong direction on ( https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/11/14/americans-trust-in-scientists-positive-views-of-science-continue-to-decline/ ) public perception of science. It possibly not being helped by political capture of some disciplines by social progressives, but also by general growth of populism (which is usually anti-elitist and anti-intellectual). As a liberal elitist, my solution is twofold - diminish the progressives in academia, and boost academia.
The Wall of Shame
Science Magazine commissioned a panel to reach the conclusion they decided it would reach before they convened it: that medical education needs to include a history lesson about the Nazis; this is in my view a simple waste of time. https://www.science.org/content/article/medical-education-must-include-field-s-nazi-past-expert-panel-urges
Reviewlets
The Architect (DC Hotel) - A nice budget hotel in DC, the room was small, the location good, and the bathroom was far nicer than I expected, being roomy with good water pressure and counter space (considerably better than my apartment’s bathroom).
Wawa (sub shop) - They’re a sub shop and convenience store with locations from NJ down the east coast of the US, with a lot of their own brands of things. I love that the subs are custom-made with specifics entered on a touchscreen; they have decent other unhealthy treats and ok coffee. I’m a fan - when I lived in PHL I picked up meals there several times a week.
The Wicked and the Witless (Fantasy novel in series) - When I started this I was wondering if it might surpass the lead character from the book before in wickedness, because he was pretty despicable. Answer: No signs of it yet. Instead we’re getting yet another angle on the same events as the rest of the series, dealing with royal politics. What Cook is trying to do with setting up the transition from an “age of heroes” towards a more advanced form of society is increasingly clear as the series goes on, and I’m coming to appreciate the “low fantasy” nature of things because it’s making the point that although the idea of heroes has a certain mystique, the reality of a society which has them is pretty awful. There were also two little joke references to real-world things early in the book, which I did not expect and got a chuckle out of.
Iain Banks’ The Culture The Drawings (sketchbook) - This is a collection of sketches from Banks on his Culture series (which I really enjoyed). Unfortunately, it’s of inconstent interestingness; there are a lot of pages which are sketches of boring geometric shapes (the Culture ships themselves are mostly large slabs), but some gear and other things are interesting (but probably should’ve been elaborated upon by the editor rather than presented unaltered. It’s not bad as a whole, but I don’t know if I’ll come back to it having paged through it this week
Amusements
I liked Space Quest (video game series) as a kid; weird to see people trying too hard to be funny (they sometimes manage) while celebrating it:
Documentary on the making of Half-Life (also video game), 25 years after, from Valve:
I find George Santos amusing. It’s horrifying that he’s in congress, but there’s a lot horrifying about US politics and its weirdos recently.
A spicy piece on the Onion on Greta, the media fixation on her having been deeply bizarre:
A cute giraffe/deer interaction:
Recent Music
How the Game is Played - Redwood Plan - the lead voice is almost a monotone around which there are some mildly tonal other voices. Weird stuff.
What About Me - Lake Street Dive - A kind of jazz that’s close to gospel music that probably should be more common
Herald of Darkness - Old Gods of Asgard - From the most recent Alan Wake game, and a rock opera piece that scratches all the same itches that “Take Control” scratched. The band is known as Poets of the Fall normally