2023-12-02
Readings
Eris (the planet, not the god) is apparently more rubbery than previously thought, based on recent (if 15-ish years ago counts as recent) observations: https://phys.org/news/2023-11-dwarf-planet-eris-squishier.amp
Towards better diet drugs in the future, a gene discovery for food conversion to fat: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231127/Scientists-discover-master-regulator-gene-for-fat-storage.aspx
Attempts at better modeling human taste based on chemistry (the sense of smell of drosophila is relatively well-modeled): https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-taught-algorithm.html
I’d want to see a lot of followups on this because it contradicts some established literature, but this study claims to find statistical links between musical preference and personality: https://phys.org/news/2023-11-uncovers-link-musical-moral-compass.amp
Digging into linguistics, do words with anti- forms always have pro- forms, and vice-versa?
Some really cool architecture in Japan, visited by an architecture blogger:
Thoughts
What are the set of reasonable beliefs that need to be widespread for a democracy to function?
A belief in reasonable political disagreement at the heart of the democracy
Willingness to tolerate and interact with people across most of the political spectrum
A belief that elections actually make a difference
A belief that sustained electoral wins are the appropriate way to advance one’s political aims
Acceptance of the possibility of inconvenient facts that are true
A desire for the relative neutrality of broad public institutions
Lack of solidarity with one’s side
Recently, Apple did some teleprompter-based censoring of a cinema awards speech to remove rants against Donald Trump, drawing some controversy. In this case, I think there are two problems - the first is that it’s a dick move to do this kind of unannounced adjustment to someone’s speech leaving them to discover it as they give it. If Apple wants certain content or rules, they should announce them beforehand and make it clear they’ll be enforced, rather than do it as a surprise. The second problem is that people too often add irrelevant cause-focused stuff to talks knowing that nobody’s going to stop them when they’re up there. Topicality is usually expected, and when the person is paid by a venue or employer to talk, it’s entirely reasonable to have firm expectations on this.
This week I hopped into controversy on one of the social media places I exist and plowed through a pile-on for awhile, expressing an unpopular view that I hold - the principle that social norms around use of language should not differ based on ethnicity. If a word is fine for someone of one ethnicity, it should be fine for everyone - what matters is intent. I understand the history of some of the words, but I dismiss that as irrelevant for the conclusion. As much as is possible, in most domains of life we should try to treat people the same regardless of sex/ethnicity/etc. This aligns with that broad principle better than particularism. Of course, I still have internalised taboos around my use of certain terms (even those that based on my specifics I might be entitled to by the particularists), but if I were reading a book aloud I hope I would ignore the discomfort and read ahead on. I want those taboos diminished for future generations, with a realignment around intent
Current Events
The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, with Russia recently trying to increase the size and capabilities of its military given its difficulties with the invasion. Human wave attacks in the former city of Avdiivka have not yet been successful and have resulted in huge losses. Russia continues to tighten social controls with loyalty pledges for foreigners, designation of non-straight sexuality as extreme, and crackdowns on academia.
Israel-Palestine - After a ceasefire for a time with a prisoner exchange, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict went hot again, with the IDF resuming its assault on Gaza. Western countries are less supportive of Israel in the Gaza invasion as casualties mount, while the US is beginning to push Israel to reign in the settlers in the west bank that have been stepping up their usual atrocities
Venezuela’s mock elections in Guyana are a prerequisite to a likely invasion in the near future, significantly fueled by a desire for oil from the region
Policy Focus
New Zealand’s experiment with a heavy-handed anti-smoking policy was reversed ( https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67540190 ) - this policy aimed to get the country free of smoking by barring people born after 2008 from ever buying tobacco. While I don’t smoke, I think it’s best for governments to be permissive on the topic as a matter of personal choice.
A summary of proposed immigration policy changes in the US; in general I think asylum has too few restrictions and is overused, and would welcome making it more qualified - I also think releasing people claiming it into society is unacceptable; ideally most people would get a decision in a few days and given the boot, with no lawyerly involvement: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/01/what-potential-asylum-changes-could-actually-mean-for-migrants-00129687
The NYPD recently faced some community opposition over its plan to move to encrypted police radio; in recent times the general public and news orgs have been able to listen to the radio and write news stories about them. I favour the policy change, because listening in on such radio is too susceptible to abuse - if backup needs to be called somewhere to deal with organised crime, police don’t need to make it easy for criminals to listen in on efforts to confront them. https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nov-20-hearing-set-for-nypd-plan-to-encrypt-transmissions
I am pleased to see NYC’s mayor gradually remove parking throughout the city and would like to see that continued and accelerated; for a city with a sufficient public transit network like ours, it makes sense to actively remove car-friendliness from the city. Removing all parking minimums (unclear if the city or the state controls that) would be another good step: https://gothamist.com/news/mayor-adams-vows-to-remove-parking-spots-from-1000-nyc-intersections-every-year
Reviewlets
Metal Gear Solid V (video game) - I’m replaying this again after years, and it still holds up. It’s a deeply weird, good, and unfinished game that peaks somewhere around the halfway point because the latter part of the game was very late and was cut short by Kojima’s team being fired (long story). Satisfying stealth combat - not as stealthy as Dishonoured (the combat is good if you fail to sneak and get stuck in it) but still stealth-focused. Amusing that Kojima keeps wanting to stage every small unit of the film as if it’s a movie. It revels in its failings as much as its successes. Pity we’ll never see the full game
Amusements
This ( https://www.cnn.com/dodo-de-extinction-mauritius-spc-intl-scn/index.html ) is a weird plan to produce something through genetic manipulation that’s (at least by the wording of the piece) not actually a dodo but which they’ll call a dodo, to “reintroduce” to the wild. It’s unclear if the creatures produced could even breed with one. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to release them into the wild. Interesting though
Strange sleep habits of certain penguins: https://www.science.org/content/article/antarctic-penguin-sleeps-11-hours-day-few-seconds-time
It’s probably best not to worry about rescuing ant colonies, but this is an interesting story:
Recent Music
Dear Father - Madonna - One of the more high-art songs from Madonna, this was one of the songs that led a much younger me to chill about the difference between pop musicians and more artistic ones (I was a bit of a music snob). The instrument choice is low-pop in this one, even though the composition is masterful and intricate, so it’s adept at blurring lines
We Both Reached For the Gun - Chicago Soundtrack - A really fun reimagining of a press conference (watch footage from the movie if you can - Richard Gere is great, and afterwards maybe look into one of the South Korean adaptations for a weirdly different take). It’s tempting to think about the ethics of press conferences around coming trials, but that’s thankfully no longer common
Alles Nur Geklaut - Prinzen - Self-referential song about pop musicians borrowing everything they write from others, and fame being unearned. I love it.