OMM (On My Mind) – April 2024 – #2

~ a curated selection of discoveries ~

::: The Open :::

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this weekly newsletter (published on Sundays).

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Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

Mark

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::: Personal Notes :::

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Upcoming poetry workshops I’m hosting.

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ONE ART’s Haiku Anthology is coming together!

The [online] anthology will be released on National Haiku Day on April 17.

BIG thanks to Katie Dozier who is doing almost all the work to make this happen!!

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‘Invaders from underground are coming in cicada-geddon. It's the biggest bug emergence in centuries’ (AP News)

What does this mean for me? Well, it means I’m going to have to wade through a boatload of poem submissions about cicadas. Happens every brood.

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::: Podcasts :::

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Civics 101: Amending the Constitution (18-minute listen)

As you hopefully are already well aware, it’s not easy to amend the U.S. Constitution. Of course, there have been attempts.

“There have been, as of 2021, 11,970 amendments proposed to the Constitution, and only 27 of those have been ratified. That's a 0.002% success rate.”

Listen for the answer to this question:

“If 33 amendments went to the states for ratification and we only have 27, what were the six that didn't make the cut?” 

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Fresh Air – Cloistered

Catherine Coldstream’s new memoir – Cloistered: My Years as a Nun

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The Gray Area - Free Market Century

Starts out a bit dry but really picks up and gets very interesting including talk of historical counterfactuals such as what if Hoover had been in office instead of FDR during The Great Depression and what other countries did. As in many episodes of this show, we delve into the fraught territory of neoliberalism. Lots of good food for thought.

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Hidden Brain – Escaping The Matrix

I’m listening (and reading) a bunch of materials on related subjects. I’ll be writing more about this in the near future.

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::: Music :::

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I found this review of 1010Benja’s ‘Ten Total’ to be an entertaining read.

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‘Dirty Three Return With First Album in 12 Years’

If you’re new to this band, I recommend checking out their albums ‘Ocean Songs’ (1998) and ‘Horse Stories’ (1996) followed by ‘She Has No Strings Apollo’ (2003).

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Maggie Rogers is releasing a new album, ‘Don’t Forget Me’, and I’m excited.

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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

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‘The Monthly Pause’ with James Crews

If you’re not already a subscriber, I highly recommend James’ newsletter.

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Hyperallergic opportunities (grants & residencies for visual artists, interdisciplinary artists, as well as writers)   

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[on] Small Press Distribution (SPD) Collapsing Abruptly (LitHub)

Here's a List of Presses impacted by the SPD collapse. (Courtesy of CLMP)

“The small press world is about to fall apart,” Goettel remembers thinking.

“Goettel says SPD owes Black Lawrence Press more than $17,000—an enormous sum for a small press.”

“I was distributed by SPD for about a year until the troubling allegations about the working environment came to light, which, coupled with the abysmal business terms, made for an easy decision to try something different,” Rothes tells me. He’s referring to an essay (no longer online) published by a former SPD employee, as well as further reports in 2021 that accused SPD of fostering a toxic workplace and poor labor conditions, as well as “financial issues and mismanagement.”

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0.4%

“Sales at the 1,225 publishers that report their revenue to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program rose 0.4% in 2023 over 2022, to $12.57 billion, according to preliminary data. The largest increase came in the religious press category, where sales at reporting publishers increased 7.8%, to $819.7 million. Adult trade sales dipped 0.3%, to $5.61 billion, while sales in the children’s/young adult fell 2.6%, to $2.5 billion. Combined sales in the adult and children’s/YA categories were down 1%.” (Publishers Weekly)

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Gina Moore resigns as Editor-in-Chief of Guernica.

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‘100 Tips That May (or May Not) Improve Your Next Novel’ (LitHub)

Note: I wouldn’t recommend MANY of these suggestions. Sharing, in part, because it’s a very strange write-up.

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“Anyway, April is National Poetry Month! And thinking about it as an adult, I do kind of see the appeal in having a poem in your pocket – something to pull out and read and mull on during your down time, versus, say, scrolling your phone. I’m not sure which poem I’d pick now, though. If you were to press me, I’d say my favorite poem would be Wallace Stevens “Anecdote of the Jar,” which I’ve loved since college. Or I could go the sentimental route and pick Heather McHugh’s “Language Lesson 1976,” which my wife’s grandma read at our wedding (flubbing the line “I saw a kid on a leash look mom-ward,” and instead reading “I saw a man on a leash look mom-ward.” There was a leather party around the corner from the church).” (Andrew Limbong, NPR Books newsletter, 4/6/24)

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::: Health & Wellness :::

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‘The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?’ (Nature)

A controversial new book may cause everyday people to think about teen mental health issues all wrong. The problem, according to researchers, is that parents are already primed to believe the snake oil this book is hawking.

“As a parent of adolescents, I would also like to identify a simple source for the sadness and pain that this generation is reporting.”

This book is pretty much guaranteed to appear soon on the podcast If Books Could Kill – which has a track record of impressive takedowns of problematic self-help (and related) texts.

“The good news is that more young people are talking openly about their symptoms and mental-health struggles than ever before. The bad news is that insufficient services are available to address their needs. In the United States, there is, on average, one school psychologist for every 1,119 students.”

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“The improvised strategy to fight COVID-19—public and private behavioral changes to slow transmission until vaccines could be deployed—prevented close to 800,000 deaths in the United States, write the authors, Andrew Atkeson of UCLA and Stephen Kissler of the University of Colorado-Boulder.” (Brookings)

“We stumbled through it without a plan,” he said. “We were basically flying blind.”

“It was the combination of behavioral changes and rapid vaccine development that saved lives. However, vaccine hesitancy and the slowdown in their deployment during the second half of 2021 “cost an additional 273,000 preventable deaths” from the Delta and Omicron variants, they write.”

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It’s possible that low-carb diets may be helpful to decrease symptoms for those with certain forms of mental illness. However, researchers have been clear that more research is needed.

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‘The FDA approved a new test to predict sepsis in hospitals.’ (The Washington Post)

“The tool, approved this week, uses artificial intelligence to predict the complex condition, which contributes to at least 350,000 deaths a year in the U.S.”

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Cholesterol and the Gut Microbiome – The Future of Treatment

“Researchers have identified gut bacteria that can transform artery-clogging cholesterol into a more harmless form.” (Nature)

“If the bacterial species or enzymes could be delivered to the right place in the gut, it might be possible to lower the necessary dose of drugs such as statins to reduce or manage cholesterol levels.”

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‘Prostate cancer cases worldwide likely to double by 2040, analysis finds’ (Guardian)

Notable in comparison with colorectal cancer spike and age reduction from Age 40 to Age 35 for first test.

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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

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‘Synagogue Vandalized With Swastika Graffiti In Wynnewood’

This happened in my hometown. We currently live nearby. I drive by this synagogue all the time.

People talk about things happening too close to home. This is too close to home.

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“In a new groundbreaking development, researchers at Aston University have achieved a internet’s data transmission speed that is a staggering 4.5 million times faster than the average home broadband. This unprecedented rate is the fastest ever recorded, achieved by utilizing specific new wavelength bands that have not been previously used in fiber optic systems.” (Interesting Engineering)

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Bill Murray’s presence at UConn men’s basketball games is because his son, Luke Murray, is an Assistant Coach.

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‘Dystopias are so 2020. Meet the new protopias that show a hopeful future’ (NPR)

Consider hope.

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[on] “Golden Passports”

“Four small island nations — Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda — agreed to charge at least $200,000 for their citizenship-by-investment programs, following pressure from the U.S. and European Union over concerns that the schemes could be a gateway for crime.” (Semafor)

“Demands for “golden passports” — which allow visa-free travel in the EU and U.K. — have soared, in part due to U.S. citizens who want a second passport “as a hedge against geopolitical turmoil,” Bloomberg reported. The programs generate more than $550 million annually in the Caribbean, and have granted citizenship to more than 88,000 people, including many from China, Russia, and Nigeria.”

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‘Fans are flocking to bars that show only women's sports on their TVs’ (NBC News)

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Trader Joe’s engages in “dupe” culture. This is basically the state of play so it’s hard to blame them.

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Spring cleaning organization hacks.

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‘These twin brothers are identical, but their autism isn't’ (WHYY/NPR)

“Sam and John Fetters, 19, are identical twins at opposite ends of the autism spectrum.”

“Actually being neurotypical isn't something Sam wants for his brother or himself.”

"I think I approach the world in interesting ways," Sam says, noting that autism has contributed to his passion for history and running.

"We are identical twins in almost every other way — laugh in the same way, cry in the same way, see the day in the same way, love the same way," Sam says. "He should absolutely have that ability to speak. He should have that. And him not having that is so unfair."

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‘Americans Showing Average Enthusiasm for Voting in 2024’ (Gallup)

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‘The U.S. awarded $20 billion to finance the fight against climate change.’ (The Washington Post)

“The idea: The money will go to nonprofits that will act as “green banks.” They’ll provide low-interest loans for clean-energy projects, like installing solar panels and heat pumps.”

“Why it matters: The move, announced this morning, is one of the Biden administration’s biggest climate investments. It could help to cut pollution in disadvantaged areas.”

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‘The air fryer is a hoax’ (Quartz)

I’ve seen so many articles like this and people still swear by their air fryers.

One possibility is that they have gas stoves in their homes.

“Many modern homes have convection ovens, which have existed since 1967. Their designs vary, but many convection ovens simply utilize the hot coils above and below your food, with a fan in the middle that circulates air around your oven. You can pick up a crisping tray for $12 on Amazon to put in your convection oven, instead of a $200 air fryer, to create something pretty close.”

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‘The Trouble With “the Global South”’ (Foreign Affairs)

“Although this acknowledgment of the rest of the world’s interests is a welcome development, it is connected to a particular understanding of the global South, which, as a term, is conceptually unwieldy. There is no hard-and-fast definition of the global South, but it is typically used to refer to the bulk of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It lumps together powerful members of the G-20, such as Brazil and Indonesia, with the world’s least developed countries, including Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste.”

“Some accept the term—but others do not. For these countries can also have dramatically diverging interests, values, and perspectives.”

South Africa wants to take a leadership position in the “Global South”.

“The recent spike in chatter about the global South has at least done the service of highlighting mounting problems faced by countries beyond the West—problems that will require a global effort to address.”

The “Global South” is not a monolith.

“But the terminology problem remains. Although many Western policymakers think they know better than to treat the non-Western world as an unvariegated whole, they should use the phrase “global South” with particular care. Specific dynamics within and among the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America will shape their political futures more than their identity as a group. The West must see these states as they are, not fall for the fallacy that they operate geopolitically as a single entity.”

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‘How Finland Conquered Homelessness’

“For years, the number of homeless people has been rising in Europe. But not in Finland. The country's Housing First program aims to eliminate the problem by 2027.”

“The residents of the housing estate have recently even been assigned an empathy consultant.”

“For decades, Finland has been investing in the construction, maintenance and purchase of welfare housing. In recent years, more than 8,000 apartments have been created for the homeless, with the end of homelessness being a shared goal of all governments on both the left and the right. In the capital city alone, the number of people living without a roof over their heads fell by 40 percent from 2019 to 2022.”

“The first demands for a greater focus on the homeless emerged in the 1980s. At the time, the country was suffering from a serious economic crisis and an estimated 20,000 Finns were without a home. Many of them slept in garbage cans in the winter so they wouldn’t freeze.”

Housing First.

"I intentionally avoid speaking only about the moral aspects," he says. "The focus is on ensuring that the concept is convincing and receives sufficient support, not on my conscience. Everybody finds it more pleasing to live in a city where nobody lives on the street."

“Foreign visitors, says Kahila, frequently point out that Finland is a rather small country and is home to comparatively few immigrants. But Kahila views such arguments as an excuse, saying that others simply lack the political will necessary.”

“The declared target of former Prime Minister Sanna Marin of completely eliminating homelessness by 2027 has been discarded. The new plans only call for an end to "long-term homelessness."”

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Trees & Land Use

“The World Resources Institute’s annual survey for 2023 found that 3.7 million hectares of primary tropical forests were lost globally last year. That’s 9% less than the year before, and 39% less than in 2016, when fires across the Amazon caused staggering reductions — but still the equivalent of ~10 soccer fields of forest being destroyed every minute.” (chartr)

“Major shifts in Brazil and Colombia, which saw year-on-year drops in primary forest loss of 36% and 49%, respectively, helped these figures substantially. Indeed, both countries have seen new leaders enact environmental policies to reduce deforestation, including increasing funding for protecting areas and offering incentives for alternative uses of the land.”

“Unfortunately, on a longer time horizon, the chart above reveals little substantial progress — and, if the promise made by 145 nations at COP26 to end deforestation by 2030 is to be met, there remains a lot of work to be done. While fire-related losses, like those seen in Canada last year, are harder to contain, reducing logging and felling for agriculture must remain a top priority.”

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‘Jevons paradox is not surprising’ (Seth Godin)

“When a resource can be used more efficiently, we end up using more of the thing, not less.”

“So, when cars get better gas mileage, people drive more, and consumption can actually go up.”

“My hunch is that AI is going to produce far more opportunities than it destroys.”

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‘New York City to pay $17.5 million for forcing women to remove hijabs for mug shots’ (Reuters)

If you think about this logically, women who wear hijabs wear them all the time in public. Similarly, there are men who wear hats all the time in public because they are balding. You could make the argument that men should be photographed wearing a hat.

Forget that this is in the context of a “mug shot”. In your license photo, shouldn’t you look the way you typically appear in public? It seems sensible to make this the norm.

If you change the way you look in public… well maybe it’s time for a new license photo. After all, we do this all the time for social media profiles.

Unless you’re actively trying to evade a manhunt, it’s probably not the end of the world (once we have digital IDs), to upload a current photo of yourself on a semi-regular basis. Say, 6 months.

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'The Sims: For Rent' gives millennials the opportunity to feel like homeownership is unattainable both virtually & IRL

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Senior Care

‘Visualizing the Size of the Global Senior Population’

We have known this is coming for some time.

It’s going to require a restructuring of society.

You can easily imagine the jobs that will be most needed.

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The LEGO version of Dark Tourism.

I’m not entirely comfortable sharing this.

This is not an endorsement.

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::: Google Search Trends :::

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The People are more interested in “free tacos” vs. “free burritos” with the notable exception of… National Burrito Day

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Understandably, there is a spike in searches about “abortion law” in Florida

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::: News of the Weird :::

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‘Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany’ (BBC)

"We would like to offer such a gift to Germany," Mr Masisi said, adding that he would not take no for an answer.

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‘A truck crashed and hurled 77,000 young salmon into the wrong creek.’ (The Washington Post)

“A truck loaded with about 102,000 endangered fish flipped on a sharp bend in Oregon last week. The survivors splashed into a nearby waterway. (The driver is fine.)”

“The salmon are expected to breed in their accidental new habitat — more than 50 miles from the river where they were supposed to replenish depleted populations.”

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‘Porch pirate disguised as trash bag steals package from home doorstep’ (6ABC)

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Lightning continues to strike the State of Liberty

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“Pastel goth” is a trending search for outfits… which seems counterintuitive

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