SC Weekly – March 2025 – #2
~ a curated selection of discoveries ~
::: The Open :::
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).
Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.
Thank you for reading and for your time.
With Gratitude,
~ Mark
*
::: Personal Notes :::
*
I’m doing my best to lower the word count on these weekly newsletters and focus even harder on sharing information that is most valuable for readers. This takes more time but it’s more considerate of your time.
Note: Sigh. This is hard. Hence, this newsletter remains 2000+ words.
*
::: ONE ART :::
*
WRITING THE CATASTROPHE: SINGING IN DARK TIMES
Instructor: Donna Hilbert
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern (3:00-5:00pm Pacific)
Price: $25 (payment options – Stripe / PayPal / Venmo / CashApp)
*
To be announced soon…
An upcoming workshop, in April, with Tresha Faye Haefner.
*
::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::
*
‘Across and within’ (Seth Godin)
*
Throwback:
ICYMI
‘Why ONLY POEMS Isn’t a Nonprofit Organization’ (LitMagNews)
+ ONLYPOEMS ‘gram has the literary memes you didn’t know you needed.
*
This happens to be a Philadelphia-based small press (I had no idea).
“So it’s this weird irony that the publishers who have all the money, the big-five-type publishers, can’t actually afford to do anything. We, as people who have no money, can try these crazy experiments. We have this sort of crowd-funded model. We’re not going to break our company because we spent all this money doing something that doesn’t sell, because we pre-sell them."
The big picture story is what can be done with a niche small press.
“It’s a business model that goes all the way back to the early days of publishing and especially back to the 19th century gift book era, which I’m very inspired by. There was a boom in the late 19th century for these gorgeously designed [books]. And they were really sort of collectors’ editions. Most of them were produced by small presses of the time. There was a huge publishing industry in Philadelphia at the time, so a lot of the books that I collect are actually published here in Philly back in the 1800s. There were dozens if not hundreds of these small publishers. They had some kind of subscription service where you could pay by the year and they would send you each of their books.”
They are creating art objects in the vein of older issues of McSweeney’s… though it appears they are moving into even wilder conceptions (see Dracula: The Evidence).
*
Sadly, yes, all of us in The Arts are vulnerable to scams to some extent.
*
::: Podcasts :::
*
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
I highly recommend listening. This goes places beyond my expectations.
*
The R-word is back. But why? (It's Been a Minute)
Very short, power listen.
You can learn a lot about disability and ableism, racism and history, in about 10 minutes.
This discussion is, in part, about how language is closely tied to disability and has forever been used to put people down, take away their power and agency.
*
One Change to Go From Being Time Poor to Time Rich with Cassie Holmes (We Can Do Hard Things)
You may not be surprised to hear I feel and have felt "time poor" since I can remember... been years.
*
Back in 2014, if you were also taken up in the whirlwind of Serial’s first season— this is big news.
‘Adnan Syed, subject of ‘Serial’ podcast, will not have to return to prison, judge rules’
*
The Zizian "death cult" – Today, Explained (VOX)
Wild, compelling, unnerving, bizarre.
"Vegan Sith" may still be up for grabs as a band name.
On a serious note—
This story is sadly likely to lead to further persecution of a minority group—in this case, trans people.
A person can have mental health issues that result in identity issues and commit violent acts.
A person can have mental health issues and commit violent acts.
Both scenarios are possible.
The identity component is not necessarily a cause or even correlated factor.
My point being that it’s important to note that there is no evidence that Ziz’s trans identity is linked to acts of violence. Instead, it appears that the culture of so-called “Rationalists” can lead to a twisted worldview that makes certain crimes seem less problematic to the actor.
I understand this perspective fairly well given my long-held identity as a vegetarian, concerns about animal welfare, affinity for Peter Singer’s work, interest in Effective Altruism, as well as a strong interest in ethical, moral, and philosophical frameworks that are aligned with being a logical person (purposefully avoiding the use of the term “rational” given the circumstances). All this being said, I maybe have about 15% in common with Zizian thinking. Importantly, my worldview leads me to do things like write a poetry collection (Meatless, Plan B Press) as opposed to, say, environmental terrorism or other extremist acts.
In short, cults are bad. Personality cults, doubly so.
*
::: Music :::
*
If you’re seen recent episodes of Lask Week Tonight with John Oliver, then you probably already saw a clip of this.
It’s the song you didn’t know you needed until you heard it.
Watch "Hostile Government Take Over (EDM Remix) @AGiftFromTodd"
Be warned, it’s an earworm.
*
Throwback(s):
In high school, I got really into (read: too into) post rock.
This track ‘The Dead Flag Blues’ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor really stands the test of time and somehow seems to speak to the moment.
(Aside: I can’t believe I basically memorized this monologue. Ditto, Slint’s Spiderland. Interesting how the brain works in heavy developmental years. A decade or so later, I’d also fall for the opening monologue, right out of the book, in No Country for Old Men.)
While we’re on the subject, this was my favorite song from that era— ‘Minmin’ by Do Make Say Think.
My overall favorite was The Microphones ‘The Glow, Pt. 2’. Beautiful.
In case you thought the vinyl revival was new— The Youth were doing this back in the early 2000s, too. It’s all cycles.
*
::: Health & Wellness :::
*
Nothing ends if you fail to deal with the repercussions.
‘Pandemic Deemed 'Over' by 59%, yet Future Health Crisis Feared’ (Gallup)
*
Having back problems?
I am. Not new. In fact, chronic. But flares up worse situationally.
Evidence shows that back problems tend to increase due to worrying over things you do not have control over.
Sound familiar?
Pick your battles. Save your back.
*
‘Where does tattoo ink go in your body? There’s one particular spot.’ (Popular Science)
I’ve wondered…
*
::: The Trump Regime :::
*
Address to Congress…
Trump talked for a long time… and said a lot of things that it turns out are not true. Untruths are also known as lies. I know, this comes as a great surprise.
During the speech, Trump said some bizarre and eyebrow raising things— which is not atypical at all.
*
Trump and Patrimonialism.
Notable piece in The Atlantic:
“…Max Weber saw patrimonialism as obsolete in the era of the modern state, he was not daydreaming. As Hanson and Kopstein note, “Patrimonial regimes couldn’t compete militarily or economically with states led by expert bureaucracies.” They still can’t. Patrimonialism suffers from two inherent and in many cases fatal shortcomings.”
“Patrimonial regimes are “simply awful at managing any complex problem of modern governance,” they write. “At best they supply poorly functioning institutions, and at worst they actively prey on the economy.” Already, the administration seems bent on debilitating as much of the government as it can. Some examples of incompetence, such as the reported firing of staffers who safeguard nuclear weapons and prevent bird flu, would be laughable if they were not so alarming.”
“Eventually, incompetence makes itself evident to the voting public without needing too much help from the opposition. But helping the public understand patrimonialism’s other, even greater vulnerability—corruption—requires relentless messaging.”
“Patrimonialism is corrupt by definition, because its reason for being is to exploit the state for gain—political, personal, and financial. At every turn, it is at war with the rules and institutions that impede rigging, robbing, and gutting the state. We know what to expect from Trump’s second term.”
“Corruption is patrimonialism’s Achilles’ heel because the public understands it and doesn’t like it.”
“Do the Democrats need a positive message of their own? Sure, they should do that work. […] the history of patrimonial rule suggests that their most effective approach will be hammering home the message that he is corrupt. One thing is certain: He will give them plenty to work with.”
*
(ChatGPT-generated chart)
*
Kind of guy we’re dealing with…
‘List of nicknames used by Donald Trump’ (Wikipedia)
*
“Strategic”
“Critics cry foul over a high-conviction 50x leveraged bet with $200M in collateral just hours before Trump’s announcement, simultaneously questioning “Crypto Czar” David Sach’s motives in selecting coins he’s “heavily invested in.” The President’s unorthodox reveal also raised eyebrows — first naming ADA, XRP, and SOL ~2 hours before disclosing BTC and ETH as the “heart of the reserve.” As the crypto market rides this presidential rollercoaster, let’s hope investors are strapped in for more thrill than spill.” (The Average Joe)
Unfortunately, crypto is the perfect money laundering tool for our modern Al Capone.
*
Rumor has it Trump’s dream (one can only assume) to be featured on the $100 bill may actually come to fruition.
One better? Trump’s birthday, which happens to be Flag Day, could become a legal public holiday.
Frankly, these are the least of our problems…
*
::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::
*
2025 Tech Policy Agenda
The intersection of Big Tech and U.S. governmental affairs.
For reasons not entirely clear, I ended up sitting in on a Microsoft tech policy agenda meeting and learned, as you might expect, Microsoft is not a “move fast and break things” startup. They are approaching the AI landscape in a level-headed, savvy, and cautious manner. That being said, they did share an eyebrow-raising moment (off the record so not quoting) that they are years, not decades, away from functional use of quantum computing— and called attention to their alleged recent discovery of a new type of matter. If you’re interested in the future of AI and AI policy, then you might want to check out— The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR).
*
‘About 1 Million U.S. Households Hold Nearly $50 Trillion in Wealth’ (Visual Capitalist)
Not ideal.
Hello, Class War.
*
‘Gender Gaps in Respect for Women Worldwide’ (Gallup)
“In the U.S., an 18-percentage-point gap separates women and men on this issue. In 2024, 49% of women, compared with 67% of men, believe that women in the U.S. are treated with respect and dignity. This marks a sharp decline over the past decade, with men's perceptions decreasing by nine percentage points since 2015, and women's perceptions dropping by 17 points -- effectively doubling the gap between them.”
*
‘Steady 66% Want Leading or Major World Role for U.S.’ (Gallup)
Worthy of personal reflection.
Is this what you want?
Is this what you believe is best for the U.S.? The world?
*
[from] The Washington Post:
“Swearing might be good for you.”
“How? It may help increase pain tolerance, research shows. It has also been linked to bolstered social bonds, improved memory, and alleviation of the social pain of rejection.
“Swearing may even improve strength — though scientists aren’t sure why. To try it out, swear at a steady pace while taking on a painful task, one expert advises.”
*
Good people.
‘James Harrison, whose blood donations saved over 2 million babies, has died’ (NPR)
“Australia's most prolific blood and plasma donor, James Harrison, has died at age 88. Known as the "Man with the Golden Arm," Harrison is credited with saving the lives of 2.4 million babies over the course of more than half a century.”
“Harrison donated blood and plasma a whopping 1,173 times, according to Lifeblood, every two weeks between 1954 and 2018. All but 10 were from his right arm, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.”
He "never missed a single appointment," the agency said, and "expected nothing in return."
*
*
“$6.3 trillion: The estimated value of the wellness industry, according to the Global Wellness Institute.” (Quartz)
“32.1%: The proportion of American children who don’t eat vegetables every day, according to a 2021 report.” (Quartz)
“100 million: The number of Americans who don’t have primary care physicians, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.”
*
*
::: Google Search Trends :::
*
In 2025, given the state of the world, it has come to my attention that a major concern is some folks do not know their aura color.
Also, “aura farming” is a thing.
IYKYK, I guess.
*
Cherry print & cherry vibes are both in.
*
Always interesting. I can confirm the efficacy of cursing for easing pain. Also, worry over what one can't control, certainly does increase pain--for me it is neck, more than back.