Finished reading: Zone One by Colson Whitehead š
Finished reading: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle š
The transition of human activities on to surveillance platforms means that truth and falsehood, fact and rumour, become mere data points of equal value. ā¦ In a fully platform-based world, everything shrinks to the status of behaviours and patterns; meaning, intention and explanation become irrelevant.
The Guardian
I might be feeling someā¦ professional regrets?
When I became enamoured with the idea of a career in āInteraction Design,ā I assumed that a commitment to critical discourse came with the territory. I realize now that was always a reach, but it feels ever more alien to my field today.
āConspiracy theory is a love affair with power that poses as its critiqueā.
Robyn Marasco, via this essay on Trumpism
There is something pathetic about Hegseth and Trump, who have schemed and failed their way into positions of power and prestige that are comically outsized to their character. It is telling that Hegseth is so preoccupied with making the military into a photogenic spectacle of masculine strength ā an anxious fixation on surface and spectacle that only highlights the USās declining influence abroad. ā¦ They do not want to be strong to pursue the nationās interests; they do not want to be strong to pursue any principles; they certainly do not want to be strong so that they can ensure the safety of the innocent. They want to be strong so that they can look big and important on TV.
We are all little ladybugs, burrowed deep amongst the branches, seeking shelter in a world that is so far beyond our ken
Iām reflecting on this piece from Dan Moynihan on the concerted, ideological assault on free speech in the wake of Charlie Kirkās killing
Canada recognizes the State of Palestine
The language of this morning’s recognition of the State of Palestine by Canada’s Carney government is somewhat refreshing in its directnessāthough the bar was exceptionally low. [Israelās] sustained assault in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of civilians, displaced well over one million people, and caused a devastating and preventable famine in violation of international law. It is now the avowed policy of the current Israeli government that āthere will be no Palestinian stateā.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israelās far-right finance minister, described Gaza as a āreal estate bonanzaā on Wednesday, Hebrew media reported.
Speaking a property development conference in Tel Aviv, Smotrich said he was talking to āthe Americansā and that āthe demolition, the first stage in the cityās renewal, we have already done. Now we just need to build.ā
What can be said about such naked, reckless hatred?
Watching the far-right, as embodied by the Republican Party under Donald Trump, redefine who is a legitimate subject and object of violenceā¦ it’s something. It seems increasingly trite and naive, but I can’t stop thinking about my internal ākindergarten bookā rubric for social values. Is anything coming out of the mouths of this vindictive, reactionary movement something you would want to have in a book you’d read to your kids before bed, hoping even a fraction of it rubbed off on them, and would be there to help them navigate the moral complexities of the world in a courageous and principled way?