February 18
The Path to American Authoritarianism
The breakdown of democracy in the United States will not give rise to a classic dictatorship in which elections are a sham and the opposition is locked up, exiled, or killed. authoritarianism does not require the destruction of the constitutional order. What lies ahead is not fascist or single-party dictatorship but competitive authoritarianism—a system in which parties compete in elections but the incumbent’s abuse of power tilts the playing field against the opposition. Most autocracies that have emerged since the end of the Cold War fall into this category, including Alberto Fujimori’s Peru, Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela, and contemporary El Salvador, Hungary, India, Tunisia, and Turkey.
A consistent wine in an inconsistent place
In the Champagne region of France now, many producers are adapting a new element to their production method. They see it not only as a significant improvement in nonvintage Champagnes, the vast majority of the bottles produced each year, but as a major hedge against the effects of climate change, which for many producers has altered both the way they farm the grapes and how they make the Champagne. from A Perpetual Champagne, Built One Year at a Time [New York Times; ungated]
Native mouse struggling to breed gets helping hand in ACT
Native mouse struggling to breed gets helping hand in ACT. Smoky mouse populations are so isolated and in such low numbers that the animals struggle to find mates that are not genetically related to them. However, a Canberra program is helping to change that. (Australia)
Stanisław Lem's "A Perfect Vacuum"
"A book like A Perfect Vacuum, a collection of reviews of non-existent books, is more akin to Borges than Heinlein. ... a book filled with ideas — in the form of compacted micro-books. The device of using faux-literary criticism for the launching of bold philosophical queries in miniature is novel, if not utterly brilliant. The execution is deadpan, believable, and totally hilarious." [more inside]
Write, Action, Chimera!
A federation of publishers operating on different scales and with different capacities would allow for new cartographies of knowledge where non-overlapping disciplinary fragments, hypotheses, and other research ingredients from different disciplines could be put into play in a rich cognitive setting. By establishing a relative disciplinary cohabitation, a federation of publishers would be positioned to address fragments and bodies of knowledge in a horizontal fashion, while remaining totally independent from the formation and the institution of these very same disciplines. from Federating Publishers: From Conceptual Comics to a Creative Europe Initiative [e-flux]
February 17
Getting to Denmark* looks further away than ever (vs annexing Greenland)
but the only way we're going to get there is to organize...
FINALLY: Jamie Raskin with MUST-SEE plan to DEFEAT Trump & Elon is filing amicus briefs, which may seem underwhelming? [link-heavy FPP] [more inside]
FINALLY: Jamie Raskin with MUST-SEE plan to DEFEAT Trump & Elon is filing amicus briefs, which may seem underwhelming? [link-heavy FPP] [more inside]
Shooting campaign to target foxes raiding sea turtle nests in Queensland
Shooting campaign to target foxes raiding sea turtle nests in Queensland. European red foxes have been caught on camera digging up sea turtle eggs and biting hatchlings at Mackay, prompting plans for a cull by the local council. (Australia)
Lord Haw-Haw's final broadcast
On April 30, 1945, unaware that the Führer’s petrol-soaked corpse was burning in the garden of the Reich Chancellery, the American-born Irish fascist William Joyce turned Nazi radio propagandist Lord Haw-Haw drunkenly sat before a microphone to make his final broadcast. [more inside]
"Music is the only thing that never let me down."
Hanna Rosin interviews Neko Case, from The Atlantic's Radio Atlantic podcast (link to audio w/transcript), on her memoir The Harder I Fight the More I Love You, includes snippets of "Hold On, Hold On," "I Wish I Was the Moon," "Man," "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu," "Star Witness," and "Things that Scare Me."
From camera angles to character development
“Storyboarding is an integral part of the process,” said the exhibition’s curator Melissa Harris. “Visually setting a scene and then plotting out its ebbs and flows may help the film team consider relationships between characters, figure out how to advance the narrative, or realize how to convey the essence of a particular segment.” from From ‘Raging Bull’ to ‘Un Chien Andalou’—A New Show Traces Cinema’s Greatest Storyboards [ArtNet]
The penny's days are numbered. That number may be zero.
Is the Penny *Finally* Dead? CGP Grey on minting coins and hacking checks and balances.
Winter has frozen us/Let love take hold of us
Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter for us in the United States and by golly he was right! At least in my little corner of the world, he was: we woke up yesterday to 2.5 inches of surprise snow. What's your favorite snowy activity? Making a snow fort? Sculpting masterpieces out of snow and ice? Maybe you prefer to stay indoors and make snow ice cream, or decadent hot chocolate, or a hot toddy? It's our weekly free thread! Let's talk about cold weather activities or whatever else you want to drop in; just no politics.
Tom Vu
You didn't go to the Tom Vu seminar and you're still not a millionaire. Maybe you should have listened to him? [more inside]
The Dynasty - How the Orbán family’s economic empire was born
By the 15th year of Viktor Orbán’s rule, his son-in-law had become one of the richest men in Hungary. István Tiborcz had built an empire of luxury properties, financial and logistics companies. As his businesses grew, he also climbed the Forbes list of the country's 50 wealthiest people. His wife, Ráhel Orbán, the Prime Minister's eldest child, is also involved in the management of some elements of the group. Tiborcz and his wife claim to have achieved all this on their own. But the reality is different. In fact, the business activities of the Prime Minister's family were linked to Viktor Orbán's political career as early as the 1990s, and this has reached a new level with the construction of Tiborcz’s empire. The story of this is told in this film, produced by the investigative reporting center Direkt36 in collaboration with independent filmmakers. (SLYT, English subtitles)
The fight for Europe is on
At a time of intensifying great power competition, the EU has to choose between becoming a vassal of the U.S. or breaking free to steer its own course — and it must decide quickly.
Two keynotes at the influential Munich Security Conference made that clear: one illiberal by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the other classically liberal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. [more inside]
Apocalypse is coming, then; just not yet.
It’s here, in a queasy and uncanny way, that difference and similitude converge. For in a scene in which the properly political content of what is called “politics” has become so vitiated, even as the scope of impending consequence has expanded to such dizzyingly existential heights, what could be less mystifying than blunted apprehension? Where the scale of ruin so outpaces available modes of redress, where the enormous machinery of dispersal and containment is so well-greased and so murderously high-functioning—where there is nothing remotely commensurate to do with whatever the unmystified facts of the matter may be—what could make plainer sense, a more human sense, than the translation of what you “know” into something that is not quite “knowledge,” that sits beside knowing but eludes its terrible grasp? from Apocalypse Later by Peter Coviello [Parapraxis]
Cockatoos prefer their noodles dunked in blueberry yogurt
Cockatoos prefer their noodles dunked in blueberry yogurt: First evidence of non-primate food flavouring behaviour. Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna are reporting that Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) engage in food flavouring behaviour by dunking food into soy yogurt. Experimentally controlled tests have confirmed that the birds selectively dipped food in flavoured yogurt rather than neutral alternatives, ruling out alternative explanations such as soaking or cleaning. [more inside]
February 16
Oddly satisfying videos of cows being cared for
Cows getting pedicures Inspired by the chariot pulled by cassowarie post on modern milking machines making cows happier and more productive, I give you a couple guys showing their messy, but satisfying, jobs trimming cow hooves. Thirty years ago, a cow with a foot problem would have to be wrassled around and either tied down, put in stocks, or drugged to have feet cared for. It was dangerous to both the handler and animal, and regular hoof care was nearly nonexistent. With the advent of trap stocks that allow easy handling of cattle, we're now in an era that allows farmers to have their cattle trimmed to prevent problems and to treat problems that occur. Additional bonus is we have videos of good-looking guys with yummy accents to entertain us. [more inside]
The Library of Congress' unique copy of James Joyce's "Ulysses"
The first edition of Ulysses was 1,000 copies. The first 100 were printed on Holland paper and signed by the author. The next 150 were printed on vergé d'Arches paper. But Copy #361 is special.
1 + 1: Not as easy at it looks
(10100) + 1 - (10100) = 0"That picture above is from iOS calculator. Notice anything? It's wrong. (10^100) + 1 − (10^100) is 1, not 0. [...] The purpose of a calculator app is to give you correct answers. Floating point numbers are imprecise - they cannot represent 0.3 or 10^100. This means a calculator built on floating point numbers is like a house built on sand. [...] A calculator should show you the result of the mathematical expression you entered. That's much, much harder than it sounds. What I'm about to tell you is the greatest calculator app development story ever told."
Pesto the penguin seen canoodling with a friend
Pesto the penguin seen canoodling with a friend. Pesto, the viral sensation and globally famous penguin, is being observed cosying up to penguin-friend Pudding. Could it be love?
How soon is now?
Many of those lured into supporting the far right have often correctly perceived that something has gone badly awry within their societies. The tragedy is that, through lies and distraction, they end up blaming the wrong people for the real issues they face. Perhaps that’s part of what makes listening to Meat Is Murder today so compelling, even with the full knowledge of the politics Morrissey holds. The album, at its best, reveals its lyricist at his most humane and gracious, a man alert to the suffering of others, but, 40 years on, we know he has badly lost his way somewhere along the line. It’s like a morality tale for the country as a whole. from The Seductive Paradox of Morrissey: The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder At 40 [Paste] [more inside]
No downloads for u
PSA: Amazon ending downloads of kindle books On 26 February, Amazon will stop allowing you to download a copy of your ebooks. This has been a primary way to import and strip the drm from ebooks using calibre. [more inside]
All of which is to say: it was a gross time
Once upon a time, in the dark days of the early 2000s, we were beset on all sides by horny profiles. This was a replicable genre, wherein a writer—usually, but not always a man, met a subject—usually, but not always, a woman, often a model or an actress—and spent the entire time with his tongue unrolling like a Tex Avery cartoon wolf, his eyes bugging out of his head, and his lust so unrestrained that he began to compulsively mix his metaphors, purple his prose and expand his word count beyond all bounds of taste or readability. These profiles were badly written, they needed a cold shower, and there were so many of them. from What Was the Horny Profile? by Anna Merlan [Flaming Hydra]
Crocodiles struggle to hunt, survive in warmer northern waters
Crocodiles struggle to hunt, survive in warmer northern waters. Scientists and tour guides say crocodiles in Queensland's north are hiding from the heat as temperatures warm, potentially disrupting their ability to hunt and travel. (Australia)
February 15
Albert King
"Albert King would stand on the stage, sweat pouring from his face like a monsoon, and wring out of Lucy—a rocket-shaped 1959 Flying V—a voice as insistent as barbed wire and as electrified as a jet engine. ... he bent notes like nobody else—pulling the strings downward on Lucy’s neck to shift their tones far out of their usual place—which created a sound alternately longing and playful." [more inside]
"I've got a little list"
"List, catalogue, enumeration, inventory, schedule, register, tripos, tally, syllabus, almanac, table, atlas, index, calendar, rota, ledger, scroll, manifest, invoice, prospectus, program, menu, census, directory, gazetteer, dictionary, lexicon, gradus."
Why Literature Loves Lists. From Rabelais to Didion, an Incomplete List of Listmakers.' By Brian Dillon
Why Literature Loves Lists. From Rabelais to Didion, an Incomplete List of Listmakers.' By Brian Dillon
Is homework out of touch? Or are the children wrong?
In the time of ChatGPT, "is there some way for adults to force teens to still do homework? Or to convince them they should want to?" The search for an answer, or at least some clarity, touches on the history of the five-paragraph essay, past letter writing culture, whether it's OK to use AI to write your wife a birthday card, and talks with John Warner, an author and long-time writing teacher who recently published More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI. Also featured are researchers at Harvard's Center for Digital Thriving, on what they're learning from talking with Gen Z about tech and LLMs. [more inside]
Just another perfectly normal president rug pulling his own country
Argentinian president Javier Milei promotes memecoin that then crashes 95% in apparent $100 million+ rug pull. [more inside]
Colorless Green Ideas | Sleep Furiously
What is Vegetative Electron Microscopy? It isn’t anything at all, unless you’re publishing AI-generated fake scientific papers generated from OCR text that doesn’t understand two-column layout.
Calm cows and a sleep in for dairy farmers
Calm cows and a sleep in for dairy farmers who couldn't ask for anything better. Voluntary milking systems — or robots — are not new to the industry, but it's hoped a significant uptake of the technology will entice the next generation of producers to stay in the industry.
brought to you by the letter T
"In this fight, in this movement, it was also trans people, especially trans women of color, like Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera [womenshistory2], Miss Major Griffin-Gracy [insta], black and brown trans women that stood at the forefront of this movement," said Angelica Christina, the Board Director of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, in an interview with ABC News. "We would not have pride as we know it today without trans people, without trans women." [more inside]
Andrew Hill
"At the age of 26, Andrew Hill altered jazz history, recording five visionary albums for Blue Note in just eight months in 1963 and 1964. In the pace and uniqueness of his achievements, he rivaled more famous labelmates such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Among his collaborators were Eric Dolphy, Kenny Dorham, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. ... He left New York in 1970 and recorded sporadically for other labels over the next two decades, becoming, in Gary Giddins’ words, an 'outlying cult figure'. Anthony Braxton, in the liner notes to his Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000, wrote: 'This is a private musical universe that is not always appreciated by the greater jazz business complex'." [more inside]
The Canadian Flag turns 60
"May the land over which this new flag flies remain united in freedom and justice … sensitive, tolerant and compassionate towards all." - Lester B. Pearson [more inside]
Five years of titillating mundanity
One thing that, of course, will never change, in Midtown or any other setting, is that, more often than not, a person who is less qualified or adept at the job will be hired if they have that “positive, can-do attitude” that employers love prattling on about so much. Me, I just wanna do the goddamn work without all this pomp and circumstance/requisite ass-kissing under the guise of “enthusiasm.” But no, that’s not how the game is played, and I’m further failing at it by publicly announcing this. from Anonymous Office Workers of the World Unite!: An Interview - The Opiate’s Anton Bonnici poses a few questions to Genna Rivieccio about her latest book, Diary of an Anonymous Midtown Office Worker in the 2010s.
February 14
Shy forest marsupials no match for all-seeing drones
Shy forest marsupials no match for all-seeing drones. Researchers in Far North Queensland have found surprising success using thermal drones to spot warm, marsupial bodies in tropical rainforest canopies - elusive tree kangaroos. (Australia)
10,000 To Choose From!
Ars staffers pick their favorite Saturday Night Live sketches 50 seasons with ~20 episodes each with ~10 sketches each is a vast sea of comedy to distill into the very purest pool of the best of the best of SNL, and this is but one small attempt to do so. [more inside]
Hasbro-Asmodee Corporation: Building better worlds
'Light Brite turned sci-fi console on the cheap'
"Generally, the projects featured on Hackaday actually do something. We won’t go as far as to say they are practical creations, but they usually have some kind of function other than to sit there and blink."
Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG
"Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG is about participating in a fictional revolution. Influenced by real-world events, past and present, players are members of a fledgling underground movement that aims to rise up against a corrupt government, forced to plan, work, and fight from the shadows. Can they do what is necessary when the cause requires it to free the people? Like the past’s real-world revolutions, none are clearly defined, bloodless, or victimless, and neither is Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG." [more inside]
Valentines for All
"When Esther Howland first saw the fancy valentine her father brought home from England, most Americans thought Valentine's Day was a waste of time." I thought I'd have a roundup post of Valentine love of the not-necessarily-romantic variety. Including this book about the origins of cards. [more inside]
The hardest working font in Manhattan
In 2007, on my first trip to New York City, I grabbed a brand-new DSLR camera and photographed all the fonts I was supposed to love. I admired American Typewriter in all of the I <3 NYC logos, watched Akzidenz Grotesk and Helvetica fighting over the subway signs, and even caught an occasional appearance of the flawlessly-named Gotham, still a year before it skyrocketed in popularity via Barack Obama’s first campaign. But there was one font I didn’t even notice, even though it was everywhere around me.
"It is caught in the uncanny valley between fork and comb."
Joining the list of threats to modern masculinity: forks with an insufficient number of tines. Enter the Man Fork! Margaret Eby of Food&Wine asks, "Why?" and "What?" and "Are you OK, guys?".
Valentine's Day Massacre
In what might go down as our own Saturday Night Massacre, today's Valentines Day Massacre our own woefully corrupt Republican president is trying to find anyone who will...help him use prosecutorial power to pressure a mayor of a major US city in order to hold up the administrations end of a bribe made right out in the open by a corrupt Democratic Mayor of New York City...If you are wondering what the hell is going on you should know the following:
It involves Turkey, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, A cell phone with a changed password, a shockingly large amount of corruption done right out in the open, that has lead to a bunch of very conservative prosecutors resigning, ongoing illegal activity right on TV. [more inside]
Why Gen Z Will Never Leave Home
The proper course of action, the one instilled in me, my friends and many of the parents I interviewed for this story, was this: you graduate high school. You get some education. And you get out. (slMacLean's) [more inside]
Opossum eats whole Costco chocolate cake
“I knew there was no way I could just leave a sick opossum there overnight.… Obviously, it had too much of a good thing.” (WaPo gift link)
The Illuminations Sessions
The 1974 sessions for Illuminations, the album by Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana, have yielded a treasure trove of previously unreleased material, including "previously unknown compositions, stripped back tracking sessions, overdub reels, working tapes and a cache of alternate takes and mixes." [more inside]
Bill Cosby Talks To Kids About Drugs
Endangered turtles break nesting record at famous Mon Repos beach
Endangered turtles break nesting record at famous Mon Repos beach. Rangers at the turtle rookery on the Bundaberg coast say they have seen the biggest influx of nesting loggerhead turtles since the 1970s. (Australia) [more inside]
Blood, soil, and organic veg
In 1936, Viscount Gerard Wallop, the Earl of Portsmouth, founded the English Array - an insane, neo-feudalist, wildly racist and anti-semitic organisation that hoped to free the King from the constrictions of Parliament, take over the country and re-institute serfdom.
Much like the Nazi Blood and Soil movement, Gerard Wallop and his colleagues were particularly obsessed with the importance of organic farming, leading to the formation of the then far-right Soil Association.
The focus on purity at the expense of scientific rigour in agriculture still affects mainstream ecological discourse today... [more inside]
The hidden-away UK bill charting a course back to Europe
Ian Dunt on Substack: The hidden-away bill charting a course back to Europe (archive). [more inside]