No Time to Choose

(NOTE: This blog will be closed to public access soon. To access my essays, photos, lyrics, news summaries and more please subscribe to my newsletter: <https://davidweir.substack.com/>)

There's nothing like the thought an asteroid hurtling toward our planet on a trajectory that would end life as we know it to remind us that like it or not we are all in this together. 

With that unsettling thought in mind, it's worth noting that Politico has put together a thoughtful article about the lack of a planetary defense system, which is as good a way as any to say that we must still be at a relatively primitive stage of our development as an "intelligent" species.

NASA is as close to a global defense department as we've got and it has recently begun tracking thousands of space objects that at least theoretically have the potential to knock us out for the count. So that is a start -- keeping track.

And NASA has identified 27,000 but as the article documents we have no agency that is responsible for knocking any one of those asteroids off its path of destruction should it target earth, although there is the promising-sounding Planetary Defense Coordination Office buried deep within NASA.

Accordingly, there are those who worry this effort may be too little too late. According to the article:

* “There are three million asteroids and we have not a freaking clue where they are and they are flying around us,” said Danica Remy, president of the B612 Foundation, which is building a database to track near-Earth objects. “We’ve barely made a dent.”

* Concerned Chinese government scientists published a paper this month proposing an “assembled kinetic impactor” delivered by missile to defend against what they call a “major threat to all life on Earth.”

* The Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping program, a venture between the B612 Foundation, Google and Analytical Graphics Inc., is constructing a “Google Maps for space” to track near-Earth asteroids. That should prove helpful.

* Rusty Schweickart, a former Apollo astronaut who co-founded the B612 Foundation and has advocated for a greater role for the United Nations, recently outlined how “the political aspects of the whole issue of planetary defense are very serious.”

Schweickart was referring to the recent experiences we have had with the Covid and all of the divisiveness and disinformation that has arisen as a result of the pandemic. That arguably can raise reasonable doubt about our collective ability to prepare for the much greater existential threat of an asteroid collision.

Others will point to climate change as a much more tangible and immediate threat than asteroids but the same question holds: How can a planet filled up with arguing tribes unite in time to find a common solution?

***

I was pleasantly surprised recently when I wrote about Taylor Swift's hit record and it turned out that lots of people are as interested in pop music as I am. Sometimes, the ebb and flow of the news puts all of us in such a serious mood that we might overlook the sweeter side of life, the side that includes popular art of all forms.

If I were going to write another piece in that spirit it would probably be about Adele's new album "30" -- especially her song "Easy On Me." I love the soaring way she sings the title line -- it's comfort food for a love addict. No one can reach further into the emotional stratosphere with her own voice than Adele.

In any event it's a good week for pop music lovers, regardless of the mayhem in the world around us. If you haven't listened to Adele lately, check her out.

***

SUNDAY HEADLINES:

* Whose job is it to prevent Armageddon? -- Calls grow for a global planetary defense strategy as thousands of near-Earth asteroids are discovered each year. (Politico)

* Weapons tests in space could shut down ATMs and ground your next flight (WP)

* U.S. ‘not as advanced’ as China and Russia on hypersonic tech, Space Force general warns (Politico)

* Afghanistan’s Opium Business Cranks Up as the Taliban Look the Other Way --With drought and international sanctions crippling the economy, farmers are planting more poppies and drug markets are open for business. (WSJ)

* For seniors using tech to age in place, surveillance can be the price of independence (WP)

* A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution -- The quest for Congo’s cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship. (NYT)

* Amazon’s Failures to Protect Your Data (Reveal/CIR)

* Biden and aides tell allies he is running in 2024 amid growing Democratic fears (WP)

* Afghan Evacuees Could Wait Years for Chance to Reach U.S.--Albania, Chile and Uganda are among the nations that are temporarily sheltering evacuees seeking to come to America. (WSJ)

* COVID Sure Looks Seasonal Now -- After two years of pandemic waves, we’re finally learning whether the disease has a predictable schedule. (Atlantic)

* VIDEO: Rioters Clash With the Police in the Netherlands Over Covid Measures (AP, Reuters)

* VIDEO: Thousands Protest Covid Measures in Australia (Reuters)

* Ukraine’s doctors pushed to the limit by COVID-19 wave (AP)

* Dutch police detain dozens in a second night of COVID-19 rioting (Reuters)

* Chile on edge as voters lean to extremes ahead of election (Financial Times)

* Inside Fentanyl’s Mounting Death Toll: ‘This Is Poison’ -- While a rise in overdose deaths shows the devastating consequences of the opioid’s spread, less is understood about how the drug has proliferated. (NYT)

* Russia reports record daily coronavirus deaths (NHK)

* Covid: WHO says it is very worried about Europe surge (BBC)

* Malcolm X, Julius Jones and Britney: How documentaries are making an impact (WP)

* America’s Workers Are Leaving Jobs in Record Numbers -- U.S. workers handed in nearly 20 million resignations this spring and summer (WSJ)    

* The Godmother of ‘Plant-Based’ Living -- Frances Moore Lappé, the author of “Diet for a Small Planet,” which was published 50 years ago and spurred a movement toward vegetarianism, looks back on her legacy. (NYT)

* People are talking about Web3. Is it the Internet of the future or just a buzzword?

-- In the Web3 vision of the internet's future, tech giants like Facebook and Google aren't as critical. The internet instead is a peer-to-peer experience built on what's known as the blockchain. (NPR)

* One in three pregnant women may suffer depression (NHK)

* Attempted breach of Ohio county election network draws FBI and state scrutiny (WP)

* The Fraying of U.S.-China Relations (New Yorker)

* Thousands of Afghans evacuated during U.S. withdrawal awaiting resettlement (WP)

* App outage locks hundreds of Tesla drivers out of cars (Guardian)

* Peng Shuai reappears in Beijing, WTA not reassured (Reuters)

* Olympics official warns Peng Shuai case ‘may spin out of control’ as photos of tennis star raise questions (WP)

* Harry Potter 20th anniversary: The UK film locations (BBC)

* First wave of public servants awarded student loan forgiveness through temporary program (WP)

* Is smart tech the new domestic battle ground? (Guardian)

* Single-family zoning preserves century-old segregation, planners say. A proposal to add density is dividing neighborhoods. (WP)

* Taylor Swift makes her lyrics feel like diary pages. We should read them as art. (WP)

* Optimistic Researchers Say There Still Time To Head Off Climate Change Before It Starts Killing Rich People (The Onion)

***

"Easy on Me"

Song by Adele

Songwriters: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins / Gregory Allen Kurstin

There ain't no gold in this river
That I've been washin' my hands in forever
I know there is hope in these waters
But I can't bring myself to swim
When I am drowning in this silence
Baby, let me in

Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me

There ain't no room for things to change
When we are both so deeply stuck in our ways
You can't deny how hard I have tried
I changed who I was to put you both first
But now I give up

Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
Had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me

I had good intentions
And the highest hopes
But I know right now
That probably doesn't even show

Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
I didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me

Unsettled Matters

There's nothing quite like an old unsolved mystery to make an old retired investigator start to twitch and jingle. Maybe it's time to get back out there and show them how it's done...

And when it comes to old mysteries  a couple of doozies popped back up this week.

First, anyone who grew up in Michigan in the 50s and 60s has always wondered what happened to Jimmy Hoffa's body. Rumors have circulated for years but his bones have never been found. Now a deathbed confession has led searchers to a supposed burial site in New Jersey and once again the old Mob-related murder mystery is back in the news.

Hoffa was the former head of the Teamsters Union with deep Mafia ties when he disappeared in 1975. Despite many searches in Michigan and elsewhere his fate has never been confirmed. 

Now it turns out that a landfill worker who died in March 2020 reportedly told a friend that his father had said that he had been ordered to bury Hoffa's body underground in a steel drum in New Jersey. The FBI has searched the site with no results reported to date.

So that's one.

The other old case is the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. By exonerating the two men convicted of his killing this week, New York City investigators have resurfaced the question of who actually did kill the black activist leader.

An investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office found that prosecutors, the FBI and the New York Police Department withheld key evidence that would probably have resulted in the men’s acquittal.

So they have been freed and the case is once again officially unsolved.

This long after the fact, it my seem extremely unlikely either that Hoffa's body will be located or Malcolm's killer(s) will be identified, but don't tell that to an old investigative reporter.

We aways believe that the answer is out there, under the next stone, around the next corner, or courtesy of the next deathbed confession.

It just requires the right person to show up at the right time to crack the case.

***

SATURDAY'S HEADLINES:

* Africa’s rising cities -- By 2100, 13 of the world’s 20 biggest urban areas will be in Africa. This is how Africa will become the center of the world’s urban future. (WP)

* VIDEO: Austria Announces Covid Vaccine Mandate for All (AP)

* Tens of thousands march in Vienna against COVID measures before lockdown (Reuters)

* Dutch Covid-19 Lockdown Protest Turns Violent (WSJ)

* Grammarly Raises $200 Million at $13 Billion Valuation (The Information)

*Jimmy Hoffa: Deathbed confession sparks long-missing U.S. union boss body hunt (BBC)

* FBI searched under New Jersey bridge for Jimmy Hoffa's remains last month (CNN)

* F.B.I. Agents Became C.I.A. Operatives in Secret Overseas Prisons -- Lawyers disclosed the unusual arrangement in evidentiary hearings to prepare for the Sept. 11 trial at Guantánamo Bay. (NYT)

* Native Americans dispel myths by living their truth: ‘We are still here’ (WP)

* U.S. wildfires have killed nearly 20% of world’s giant sequoias in two years (Guardian)

* Kyle Rittenhouse Acquitted of All Charges (Apple News)

* France to ban sales of dogs and cats at pet shops (NHK)

* Britain seeks ban of single use plastic plates and cutlery in England (Reuters)

* On Putin’s Strategic Chessboard, a Series of Destabilizing Moves (NYT)

* Putin is testing U.S., NATO with buildup along Russia-Ukraine border, defense minister says (WP)

* U.S. seeks balance as fears grow Russia may invade Ukraine (AP)

* Biden's balancing act in the Middle East has a problem: Israel (Politico)

* Covid-19 live updates: Delta variant dangerous during pregnancy, CDC reports say (WP)

* Europe’s Covid surge forces Austria to plan mandatory vaccination (Financial Times)

* Canada flood shows how climate change could fuel atmospheric river storms (Reuters)

* Chinese naval ship enters Japan's waters (NHK)

* Chinese, Russian bombers fly near Japan (NHK)

* Afghanistan: The teenage girls returning to school under the Taliban (BBC)

* Taliban meet German, Dutch diplomats (NHK)

* Abducted Afghan psychiatrist found dead weeks after disappearance (Guardian)

* Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s disappearance galvanises sporting elite (Financial Times)

* CDC advisers back coronavirus boosters for all adults, urge them for people 50 or older (WP)

* Is work getting better or worse for women? (Politico)

* The Decision That Cost Hitler the War -- “Hitler’s American Gamble,” by Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, examines Hitler’s ill-fated choice to declare war on the United States. (NYT Books)

* 'Emotionally brilliant': Adele releases new album '30' (Reuters)

* What to Know About Teen Boys and Videogames—According to Teen Boys (WSJ)

* Research sheds light on what's killing young people, especially boys and young men -- Globally, boys and young men made up two-thirds of all deaths among young people in 2019. A recent report finds that many such deaths in this "neglected" age group are preventable. (NPR)

* Economists Trace Great Resignation To Comedy Central Airing ‘Office Space’ Constantly During Workers’ Formative Years (The Onion)

*** 

"Now I Wonder."

Chris Isaak

 Now I wonder. 

I keep on praying for a blue sky, I keep on searching through the rain. I keep on thinking of the good times, will they ever come again? 

Now I wonder. Now I wonder. I keep on praying for a blue sky, I keep on searching through the rain. I keep on thinking of the good times, will they ever come again?

Now I wonder.
Now I wonder.

When I was younger I believed, that I could win.
Now I wonder.

There was a time when you and I, walked hand & hand.
Now I wonder.

I keep on searching for the old me, I keep on thinking I can change.
I keep on hoping for a new day, will I ever feel the same?

Now I wonder.
Oh I wonder.
Now I wonder.

We Were All There

(NOTE: I will eventually be closing this blog down for public viewing. Never miss a post by subscribing to my daily newsletter: https://davidweir.substack.com/.)

If I wrote more often about popular music, it would be about the lyrics, since I'm hardly competent to comment on the rest. But I have always had a certain fascination with the occasional long song that breaks through -- like the best Bob Dylan pieces. They resemble long-form journalism, which is largely a thing of the past now. 

In this context I recently watched Taylor Swift perform her 10-minute song, "All Too Well," on SNL, and it immediately struck me as an instant classic. I checked with my resident pop music expert and he agreed.

At the time I was ignorant about the song's origin but in this regard YouTube is a great research tool. It turns out that Swift first performed it at the age of 21 during a session not meant for recording but that engineers recorded anyway. 

That was ten years ago.

She was in a down state at the time, apparently over a failed relationship. As much as older people may minimize youthful love affairs, they often carry emotional consequences that can be especially devastating. 

This song reflects that.

Now, according to conventional wisdom, a ten minute song is much too long to get much commercial playing time, but there are exceptions to that rule. Recall "American Pie," "Alice's Restaurant," and others.

This song of Swift's, I suspect, may be such an exception.

Story-telling in song can have a greater emotional impact than other types of writing due to the way our brains respond to music. Neuroscientists have been able to map how certain musical patterns match the way neurons fire in out brains, and while the cause-and-effect may be unclear, the patterns are clear.

And as anyone who has ever been moved by opera will attest, you don't even have to know the language of a song to be deeply moved by it.

There are plenty of things to complain about with YouTube, like all of the big Internet services, but the ability to get lost in the archives of almost any genre of music is unparalleled there. Spotify is pretty damn good too.

As to why I would devote space and time to a pop song today as my "commentary on the news," all I can do is quote Ms. Swift: "I was there, I remember it all too well."

***

FRIDAY'S HEADLINES:

• First Known Covid Case Was Vendor at Wuhan Market, Scientist Says (NYT)

* Dems’ sweeping social, climate bill passes divided House (AP)

* VIDEO: Colorado Wildfire Prompts Evacuations -- The fast-moving Kruger Rock fire in northern parts of the state led to the death of a pilot who was fighting the blaze. (AP, Storyful and Reuters)

* Bipartisan state attorneys general launch investigation into Meta (Politico)

* In Charlottesville trial, jurors learn to decode the secret slang of white supremacists (WP)

* Vancouver storm: A state of emergency has been declared in British Columbia (BBC)

* Residents brace for torrential rains in already flooded western Canada (Guardian)

* First fires, now floods: British Columbia and Washington reeling from atmospheric river (WP)

* The massive rains that unleashed floods and mudslides in the Canadian province of British Columbia exposed the country’s supply chain vulnerability as crucial railways and roads were severed from the country's biggest port. (Reuters)

* Brazil’s Amazon deforestation surges to worst in 15 years (AP)

* California faces another dry winter, and without precipitation to nourish the state’s reservoirs, federal officials say water rationing will continue for another year. (SFC)

* When Bipartisanship Risks Undermining Democracy (Atlantic)

* VIDEO: Biden Hosts Summit With Canadian and Mexican Leaders (NYT)

* Space debris cloud threatens satellites after Russia missile test (Financial Times)

* Can Russia's Press Ever Be Free? (New Yorker)

* 

Thousands of Afghans seek temporary U.S. entry, few approved (AP)

* Oklahoma governor commutes Julius Jones’ death sentence (AP/Politico)

* China uses water cannon against Philippine boats (NHK)

* Travis McMichael says Ahmaud Arbery was no threat during chase (BBC)

* Revealed: the places humanity must not destroy to avoid climate chaos (Guardian)

* The Terrifying Future of the American Right (Atlantic)

* Alleged hackers from Iran charged with targeting U.S. voters in disinformation campaign in 2020 (WP)

* Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full COVID-19 lockdown, it said as neighboring Germany warned it may follow suit, sending shivers through financial markets worried about the economic fallout. (Reuters)

* How widespread is Covid in animals and what are the risks to humans? (Financial Times)

* UN concerned about ISIL threat in Afghanistan (NHK)

* Say goodbye to swing districts. Lawmakers are drawing easy wins in dozens of states. (Politico)

* Judge vacates decades-old convictions in 1965 assassination of Malcolm X (WP)

* Exonerations Only Deepen Mystery Shrouding Malcolm X’s Killing (NYT)

* Shocking new details emerged after a Manhattan judge exonerated two men convicted of killing revolutionary civil rights icon Malcolm X. Documents suggest that the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ordered multiple witnesses in the trial not to tell police or prosecutors they were FBI informants. “I apologize for what were serious, unacceptable violations of law and the public trust,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told the court, saying the men were wrongfully convicted. [AP]

* Young people more optimistic about the world than older generations – Unicef (Guardian)

* The Pandemic’s Next Turn Hinges on Three Unknowns -- A potential winter surge is up to vaccines, variants, and us. (Atlantic)

* Covid Boosters From Pfizer, Moderna Cleared for All U.S. Adults (WSJ)

* A prominent scientist who said lab theory of covid-19 origin should be probed now says evidence points to Wuhan market (WP)

* Biden’s war on inflation is a battle to change human behavior (Politico)

* Pandemic creating long-term joblessness (NHK)

* Biden says U.S. is ‘considering’ a diplomatic boycott of Winter Olympics in China (WP)

* US states investigate Instagram’s targeting of younger users (Financial Times)

* Shopping online surged during Covid. Now the environmental costs are becoming clearer. (Politico)

* Japanese researcher films frog croaking underwater (NHK)

* FBI Solving 80% More Cases After Getting Great Big Magnifying Glass (The Onion) 

***

"All Too Well"

By Elisabeth Wagner Rose  and Taylor Alison Swift

I walked through the door with you
The air was cold
But something about it felt like home somehow
And I, left my scarf there at your sister's house
And you've still got it in your drawer even now

Oh, your sweet disposition
And my wide-eyed gaze
We're singing in the car, getting lost upstate
Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place
And I can picture it after all these days

And I know it's long gone and that magic's not here no more
And I might be okay but I'm not fine at all

'Cause there we are again on that little town street
You almost ran the red 'cause you were lookin' over at me
Wind in my hair, I was there
I remember it all too well

Photo album on the counter
Your cheeks were turning red
You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed
And your mother's telling stories 'bout you on the tee-ball team
You told me 'bout your past thinking your future was me

And I know it's long gone and there was nothing else I could do
And I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to

'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night
We're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light
Down the stairs, I was there
I remember it all too well, yeah

And maybe we got lost in translation
Maybe I asked for too much
But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up
Running scared, I was there
I remember it all too well

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all
Too well

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it
I'd like to be my old self again
But I'm still trying to find it
After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own
Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone
But you keep my old scarf from that very first week
'Cause it reminds you of innocence
And it smells like me
You can't get rid of it
'Cause you remember it all too well, yeah

'Cause there we are again when I loved you so
Back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known
It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well

Wind in my hair, you were there, you remember it all
Down the stairs, you were there, you remember it all
It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well