‘donald trump’s admirers are losing what remains of their minds because the President-elect said something that wasn’t cruel or insulting. On Sunday, trump posted an uncharacteristically presidential-sounding tribute to the late Jimmy Carter — one so well-written and lacking in ALL CAPS that it clearly came from someone else’s keyboard. The giveaways? Complete sentences, zero exclamation points, and not a single “WITCH HUNT!!!”…’ (Ellsworth Toohey via Boing Boing)
Monthly Archives: December 2024
The Jan. 6 Verdict Is In: The Rioters Lose, Even If trump Pardons Them
‘…[A] conviction still matters, even if a politician erases it. It’s a reality that says a lot about the meaning of a pardoned Jan. 6 conviction, not so much in the law books as in Washington’s public memory.
And it also explains why the ongoing Jan. 6 prosecutions aren’t the fool’s errand that some may think….’ (Michael Schaeffer via POLITICO)
New Year’s Customs and Traditions
This is my annual New Year’s post, a longstanding tradition here at FmH. Please let me know if you come across any broken links.
A while ago, I came across a Boston Globe article from January 1st that compiled various folkloric beliefs about what to do, eat, and avoid on New Year’s Day to bring good fortune for the year ahead. I’ve regretted not clipping and saving it ever since—though I tend to think about it around this time every year (grin). As a parent now, I’m especially interested in traditions that go beyond the typical New Year’s activities like binge drinking, watching bowl games, and making resolutions.
A web search brought me this, less elaborate than what I recall from the Globe but to the same point. It focuses on food-related traditions, which is interesting because, unlike most major holidays, New Year’s Day in 21st-century America doesn’t seem to revolve much around special foods (except, perhaps, the inevitable New Year’s resolution to lose weight). But…
Traditional New Year’s Foods
In many parts of the world, certain foods are considered good luck for the coming year. Many cultures believe that anything shaped like a ring is auspicious because it symbolizes the completion of a cycle. For example, in the Netherlands, eating donuts on New Year’s Day is thought to bring good fortune.
Black-Eyed Peas and Other Good Luck Foods
In the United States, a traditional New Year’s meal often includes black-eyed peas, sometimes served with hog jowls or ham. These peas are believed to bring prosperity, and the hog symbolizes abundance because of its forward-moving nature. Cabbage, another lucky food, is consumed on New Year’s Day in many cultures, symbolizing paper currency. Some regions also consider rice a lucky food for the new year.
In Scotland, New Year’s celebrations (Hogmanay) focus heavily on warmth, hospitality, and making a fresh start. Special foods enjoyed during Hogmanay include shortbread, oatcakes, ginger cordial, currant loaf, and scones. Another tradition involves “First Footing,” where the first person to cross your threshold at midnight should be a tall, dark-haired man, ideally bearing gifts like coal or whiskey to ensure prosperity for the coming year.
Here’s why we clink our glasses when we drink our New Year’s toasts, no matter where we are. Of course, sometimes the midnight cacophony is louder than just clinking glassware, to create a ‘devil-chasing din’.
New Year’s Traditions Around the World
- Georgia (USA): Eating black-eyed peas and turnip greens on New Year’s Day symbolizes prosperity and wealth. The Southern dish Hoppin’ John, made with black-eyed peas, bacon, and rice, is also a popular New Year’s tradition.
- Greece: On New Year’s Day, a sweetbread called Vasilopita is traditionally served with a silver coin baked inside. The person who receives the slice with the coin is thought to be blessed with good fortune.
- Italy: Lentils, oranges, and olives are commonly served. Lentils represent wealth (because they resemble coins), oranges symbolize love, and olives are associated with prosperity.
- Norway: In Norway, a traditional New Year’s meal might include lutefisk (dried cod), while in Pennsylvania, sauerkraut is said to bring good fortune.
- Spain: At midnight, Spaniards eat twelve grapes—one for each stroke of the clock, each grape bringing luck for a specific month of the year.
- Denmark: Jumping off a chair at midnight symbolizes leaping into the new year.
- Brazil: People in Rio celebrate by receiving blessings from the “Mother-saints” of the Macumba and Candomblé religions. Afterward, they dive into the ocean, jumping over seven waves to ensure good luck for the year ahead.
Unlucky Foods and Rituals
There are also foods to avoid on New Year’s Day. Lobster, chicken, and cows are considered unlucky because of how they move—lobsters crawl backward, chickens scratch the ground, and cows move slowly, symbolizing setbacks. Read on for more foods superstitious people try to avoid on the holiday. (Mental Floss)
International Customs to Start the New Year Right
The crescent-shaped Copacabana beach… is the scene of an unusual New Year’s Eve ritual: mass public blessings by the mother-saints of the Macumba and Candomble sects. More than 1 million people gather to watch colorful fireworks displays before plunging into the ocean at midnight after receiving the blessing from the mother-saints, who set up mini-temples on the beach.
When taking the plunge, revelers are supposed to jump over seven waves, one for each day of the week.
This is all meant to honor Lamanjá, known as the “Mother of Waters” or “Goddess of the Sea.” Lamanjá protects fishermen and survivors of shipwrecks. Believers also like to throw rice, jewelry and other gifts into the water, or float them out into the sea in intimately crafted miniature boats, to please Lamanjá in the new year.
In many northern hemisphere cities near bodies of water, people also take a New Year’s Day plunge into the water, although of course it is an icy one! The Coney Island Polar Bears Club in New York is the oldest cold-water swimming club in the United States. They have had groups of people enter the chilly surf since 1903.
- Ecuadorian families make scarecrows stuffed with newspaper and firecrackers and place them outside their homes. The dummies represent misfortunes of the prior year, which are then burned in effigy at the stroke of midnight to forget the old year. Bolivian families make beautiful little wood or straw dolls to hang outside their homes on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck.
- China: People clean their homes to appease the Kitchen God and scare away evil spirits. Red paper cuttings are displayed in windows for good luck, and during the Dragon Dance, families open their doors to welcome in fortune.
- India (Diwali): The festival of lights is celebrated with thousands of small clay lamps (dipa), attracting good fortune for the year.
- Thailand: On New Year’s Day, people pour fragrant water over the hands of their elders as a mark of respect.
- France: Eating a stack of pancakes is a New Year’s breakfast tradition.
- Denmark: banging on friends’ doors to “smash in” the New Year, where it is also a good sign to find your doorstep heaped with broken dishes on New Year’s morning. Old dishes are saved all years to throw at your friends’ homes on New Year’s Eve. The more broken pieces you have, the greater the number of new friends you will have in the forthcoming twelve months.
- Japan: In Japan, people cleanse their souls by listening to a gong toll 108 times—one for each sin.
- Puerto Rico: At midnight, people throw water out of their windows to rid the house of evil spirits.In China, homes are cleaned spotless to appease the Kitchen God, and papercuttings of red paper are hung in the windows to scare away evil spirits who might enter the house and bring misfortune. Large papier mache dragon heads with long fabric bodies are maneuvered through the streets during the Dragon Dance festival, and families open their front doors to let the dragon bring good luck into their homes.
- going in the front door and out the back door at midnight in Ireland.
- making sure the First Footer, the first person through your door in the New Year in Scotland, is a tall dark haired visitor.
- water out the window at midnight in Puerto Rico rids the home of evil spirits.
- cleanse your soul in Japan at the New Year by listening to a gong tolling 108 times, one for every sin
- it is Swiss good luck to let a drop of cream fall on the floor on New Year’s Day.
- Belgian farmers wish their animals a Happy New Year for blessings.
In Germany and Austria, lead pouring” (das Bleigießen) is an old divining practice using molten lead like tea leaves. A small amount of lead is melted in a tablespoon (by holding a flame under the spoon) and then poured into a bowl or bucket of water. The resulting pattern is interpreted to predict the coming year. For instance, if the lead forms a ball (der Ball), that means luck will roll your way. The shape of an anchor (der Anker) means help in need. But a cross (das Kreuz) signifies death. This is also a practice in parts of Finland, apparently.- El Salvadoreans crack an egg in a glass at midnight and leave it on the windowsill overnight; whatever figure it has made in the morning is indicative of one’s fortune for the year.
- Some Italians like to take part in throwing pots, pans, and old furniture from their windows when the clock strikes midnight. This is done as a way for residents to rid of the old and welcome in the new. It also allows them to let go of negativity. This custom is also practiced in parts of South Africa, the Houston Press adds.
- In Colombia, walk around with an empty suitcase on New Year’s Day for a year full of travel.
- In the Philippines, all the lights in the house are turned on at midnight, and previously opened windows, doors and cabinets throughout the house are suddenly slammed shut, to ward off evil spirits for the new year.
- In Russia a wish is written down on a piece of paper. It is burned and the ash dissolved in a glass of champagne, which should be downed before 12:01 am if the wish is to come true.
- Romanians celebrate the new year by wearing bear costumes and dancing around to ward off evil
- In Turkey, pomegranates are thrown down from the balconies at midnight for good luck.
- How to Celebrate the New Year in Greenland? Terrify Everyone.‘ Masked figures chase people throughout Mitaarfik….’
“It’s a bit bizarre when you think about it. A short British cabaret sketch from the 1920s has become a German New Year’s tradition. Yet, although
The 90th Birthday or Dinner for One
is a famous cult classic in Germany and several other European countries, it is virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, including Britain, its birthplace.” (Watch on Youtube, 11 min.)
So if the Germans watch British video, what do you watch in Britain? A number of sources have suggested that it is Jools Holland’s Hootenanny, “even though it’s awful and everyone hates it.“
On a related theme, from earlier in the same week, here are some of the more bizarre Christmas rituals from around the world.
The History Behind New Year’s Traditions
The early Christian Church was initially opposed to New Year’s celebrations, viewing them as pagan rituals. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the tradition of celebrating January 1st as the start of the new year became more widely accepted. Documentation of observance of the new year dates back at least 4000 years to the Babylonians, who also made the first new year’s resolutions (reportedly voews to return borrowed farm equipment were very popular), although their holiday was observed at the vernal equinox. The Babylonian festivities lasted eleven days, each day with its own particular mode of celebration. The traditional Persian Norouz festival of spring continues to be considered the advent of the new year among Persians, Kurds and other peoples throughout Central Asia, and dates back at least 3000 years, deeply rooted in Zooastrian traditions.Modern Bahá’í’s celebrate Norouz (”Naw Ruz”) as the end of a Nineteen Day Fast. Rosh Hashanah (”head of the year”), the Jewish New Year, the first day of the lunar month of Tishri, falls between September and early October. Muslim New Year is the first day of Muharram, and Chinese New Year falls between Jan. 10th and Feb. 19th of the Gregorian calendar.
The classical Roman New Year’s celebration was also in the spring although the calendar went out of synchrony with the sun. January 1st became the first day of the year by proclamation of the Roman Senate in 153 BC, reinforced even more strongly when Julius Caesar established what came to be known as the Julian calendar in 46 BC. The early Christian Church condemned new year’s festivities as pagan but created parallel festivities concurrently. New Year’s Day is still observed as the Feast of Christ’s Circumcision in some denominations. Church opposition to a new year’s observance reasserted itself during the Middle Ages, and Western nations have only celebrated January 1 as a holidy for about the last 400 years. The custom of New Year’s gift exchange among Druidic pagans in 7th century Flanders was deplored by Saint Eligius, who warned them, “[Do not] make vetulas, [little figures of the Old Woman], little deer or iotticos or set tables [for the house-elf] at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks [another Yule custom].” (Wikipedia)
The tradition of the New Year’s Baby signifying the new year began with the Greek tradition of parading a baby in a basket during the Dionysian rites celebrating the annual rebirth of that god as a symbol of fertility. The baby was also a symbol of rebirth among early Egyptians. Again, the Church was forced to modify its denunciation of the practice as pagan because of the popularity of the rebirth symbolism, finally allowing its members to cellebrate the new year with a baby although assimilating it to a celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. The addition of Father Time (the “Old Year”) wearing a sash across his chest with the previous year on it, and the banner carried or worn by the New Year’s Baby, immigrated from Germany. Interestingly, January 1st is not a legal holiday in Israel, officially because of its historic origins as a Christian feast day.
Auld Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne (literally ‘old long ago’ in the Scottish dialect) is sung or played at the stroke of midnight throughout the English-speaking world (and then there is George Harrison’s “Ring Out the Old”). Versions of the song have been part of the New Year’s festivities since the 17th century but Robert Burns was inspired to compose a modern rendition, which was published after his death in 1796. Its lyrics, asking whether old friends should be forgotten, have become synonymous with New Year’s celebrations. (It took Guy Lombardo, however, to make it popular…)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend
And gie’s a hand o’ thine
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne
New Year’s Wishes Around the World
Here’s how to wish someone a Happy New Year around the world:
- Arabic: Kul ‘aam u antum salimoun
- Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo means “Good Parties and Happy New Year”
- Chinese:
Chu Shen TanXin Nian Kuai Le (thanks, Jeff)- Czechoslavakia: Scastny Novy Rok
- Dutch: Gullukkig Niuw Jaar
- Finnish: Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
- French: Bonne Annee
- German: Prosit Neujahr
- Greek: Eftecheezmaenos o Kaenooryos hronos
- Hebrew: L’Shannah Tovah Tikatevu
- Hindi: Niya Saa Moobaarak
- Irish (Gaelic): Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit
- Italian: Buon Capodanno
- Khmer: Sua Sdei tfnam tmei
- Laotian: Sabai dee pee mai
- Polish: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
- Portuguese: Feliz Ano Novo
- Russian: S Novim Godom
- Serbo-Croatian: Scecna nova godina
- Spanish: Feliz Ano Nuevo
- Swedish: Ha ett gott nytt år
- Turkish: Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
- Vietnamese: Cung-Chuc Tan-Xuan
If you speak any other languages, feel free to share a New Year’s greeting in the comments!
Which of these customs appeal to you? Are they done in your family, or will you try to adopt any of them? However you’re going to celebrate, my warmest wishes for the year to come… and eat hearty!
[thanks to Bruce Umbaugh (here or here) for original assistance]
Related?
- Lucky Foods for the New Year (wholefoodsmarket.com)
- New Year’s Day food traditions around the world (examiner.com)
- Lucky foods to Eat on New Year’s Day (kasamba.com)
- 10 Good Luck Foods (beatcancer2010.wordpress.com)
- Good luck food for New Year’s Day (mnn.com)
- New Year’s Eve Traditions 3 (languagelearnersandteachers.wordpress.com)
- How to Manifest Good Luck in the New Year (norinedresser.wordpress.com)
- New Year’s foods for prosperity and luck?
- What’s Cooking in January
- Pickle, Peach, Carp Drops Mark New Year
- It’s New Year’s Eve, You’re Drunk and Damnit, You Drove
- Regency Christmas Traditions: Hogmanay (trsparties.com)
When Does a High Become a Trip?
‘New, non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelics are blurring the boundaries of the drug trip….’ (Shayla Love via The Atlantic)
Mainstream media normalizes trump’s revenge campaign against Liz Cheney
‘Congratulations to our nation’s most prestigious media outlets, who are currently locked in a thrilling race to see who can normalize trump’s fascism with the most cowardly headlines!…’ (Ellsworth Toohey via Boing Boing)
Historian Heather Cox Richardson on the Wounded Knee Massacre
‘On the clear, cold morning of December 29, 1890, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, three U.S. soldiers tried to wrench a valuable Winchester away from a young Lakota man. He refused to give up his hunting weapon. It was the only thing standing between his family and starvation, and he had no faith it would be returned to him as the officer promised: he had watched as soldiers had marked other confiscated valuable weapons for themselves.
As the men struggled, the gun fired into the sky.
Before the echoes died, troops fired a volley that brought down half of the Lakota men and boys the soldiers had captured the night before, as well as a number of soldiers surrounding the Lakotas. The uninjured Lakota men attacked the soldiers with knives, guns they snatched from wounded soldiers, and their fists.
As the men fought hand to hand, the Lakota women who had been hitching their horses to wagons for the day’s travel tried to flee along the nearby road or up a dry ravine behind the camp. Stationed on a slight rise above the camp, soldiers turned rapid-fire mountain guns on them. Then, over the next two hours, troops on horseback hunted down and slaughtered all the Lakotas they could find: about 250 men, women, and children.
Fifteen years ago, I wrote a book about the Wounded Knee Massacre, and what I learned still keeps me up at night. But it is not December 29 that haunts me.
What haunts me is the night of December 28…’ (via Letters From an American)
The 7 Coolest Mathematical Discoveries of 2024
‘Unsolvable problems, many-dimensional wheels and new prime numbers are among new mathematical discoveries this year…’ (Clara Moskowitz via Scientific American)
trump’s ‘deeply weird’ Greenland obsession exposed by columnist
‘With President-elect donald trump once again making noise about seizing Greenland from Denmark, MSNBC columnist Hayes Brown decided to examine the origins of trump’s years-long fixation on buying the large ice-covered territory.
After reviewing past reports on trump national security officials’ interactions with him during his first term about Greenland, Hayes finds that trump seems to simply covet Greenland because it’s a large piece of land.
In fact, trump is directly quoted by reporters Susan Glasser and Peter Baker as saying of Greenland, “I love maps. And I always said: ‘Look at the size of this. It’s massive. That should be part of the United States.’”
Taking stock of this, Hayes comes away unimpressed with trump’s geopolitical acumen. “As tends to be the case with trump, the real donald trump answer is both entirely on-brand and deeply weird,” writes Brown. “Even if trump really did come up with the idea of buying Greenland himself as he claimed, the motivation of ‘it’s massive’ doesn’t speak highly of his strategic vision for the United States — or his own business sense as a developer.”
Hayes then adds that, were trump to get serious about taking Greenland for the United States, it would likely not end well for him.
“It’s especially fitting that a real estate developer whose properties have declared bankruptcy multiple times is besotted with this particular landmass,” he writes. “Greenland is one of the oldest bait-and-switch real estate cons in the book, named to encourage settlement on what is a mostly barren expanse of ice. And, as any cartography fan would tell you, the way Greenland looks on most common maps is extremely misleading thanks to the distortion needed to make a globe flat. Instead, the island — while still huge — isn’t quite as massive as trump seems to think.”…’ (Brad Reed via Raw Story)
Cory Doctorow’s prescient novella about health insurance and murder
‘Five years ago, the science fiction writer Cory Doctorow published a short story whose plot might seem eerily similar to followers of the past few weeks’ news.
In Radicalized, one of four novellas comprising a science fiction novel of the same name, Doctorow charts the journey of a man who joins an online forum for fathers whose partners or children have been denied healthcare coverage by their insurers after his wife is diagnosed with breast cancer and denied coverage for an experimental treatment. Slowly, over the course of the story, the men of the forum become radicalized by their grief and begin plotting – and executing – murders of health insurance executives and politicians who vote against universal healthcare….’ ( Cecilia Nowell via The Guardian )
5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Winter Solstice
‘Dec. 21 marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the shortest day of the year, and it’s rooted in astronomical and religious significance.
Many early cultures celebrated this as the day the sun “came back,” commencing a period of longer days. Here are five things to know about the winter solstice….’ (Kathryn Whitbourne via HowStuffWorks)
The Shortest Day
So the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow‐white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us ‐ listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!
— Susan Cooper
Opinion: Now Is Not the Time for Surrender
‘Democrats may be in the minority, but they are not yet an opposition.
What’s the difference?
An opposition would use every opportunity it had to demonstrate its resolute stance against the incoming administration. It would do everything in its power to try to seize the public’s attention and make hay of the president-elect’s efforts to put lawlessness at the center of American government….’ (Janelle Bouie via New York Times)
10 Winter Solstice Celebrations From Around the World
‘Here’s how various cultures honor the darkest day and welcome the return of the sun….’ (Lorna Wallace via Mental Floss)
Wild photo of Bigfoot in canyon on Navajo Nation
‘The startling photo [above] was reportedly taken between Cornfields and Greasewood, Arizona on the Navajo Nation. After generating a buzz in the cryptozoology community, an individual named Lottie came forward to report that her aunt snapped the photo two years ago….’ (via (Boing Boing)
Mathematicians Uncover a New Way to Count Prime Numbers
‘To make progress on one of number theory’s most elementary questions, two mathematicians turned to an unlikely source….’ (via Quanta Magazine)
So did…
…Did anyone manage to catch the Geminids this weekend? Sky conditions by me precluded.
‘Bodies are piling up’
Reporter finds GOP-led states are hiding abortion ban death toll
‘Some Republican-led states that passed near-total abortion bans have mysteriously stopped collecting statistics on maternal mortality over the last couple of years — and some observers suspect it’s not a coincidence, wrote Susan Rinkunas for MSNBC.
This comes as reports begin to trickle in of cases of women who have died after being denied abortion care in dangerous pregnancies, despite every state with an abortion ban ostensibly having exceptions for the life of the mother — women of color being the bulk of these cases….’ (via Raw Story)
How English Swear Words Evolved Over Thousands of Years
‘Educator Arum Natzorkhang quite seamlessly pronounced every iteration of certain English swear words as they evolved from 5000 BCE to 2024 CE into the words we know today….’ (via Laughing Squid)
(What is ‘trump’ in Proto-Germanic?)
“Deny, Depose, Defend” was spray painted on the UnitedHealthcare office building in Las Vegas
(via Reddit r/pics)
Scientists Horrified by “Mirror Life” That Could Wipe Out Biology As We Know It
‘A group of the world’s leading biologists have called for an immediate halt on a technology you’ve probably never even heard of — but is so dangerous, they say, that it could upend the order life itself on this planet, if not wipe it out.
In a nearly three-hundred page technical report published this month, the scientists describe the horrifyingly existential risks posed by what’s known as mirror life: synthetic organisms whose DNA structures are a mirror image to that of all known natural organisms….’ (Frank Landymore via Futurism)
How to See the Geminid Meteor Shower This Weekend
‘The Geminid meteor shower, one of the brightest and most prolific meteor showers of the year, peaks overnight on December 13 and 14. As the winter nights grow longer and colder, the celestial phenomenon is just the excuse we needed to bundle up and get outside.
But this year, an almost full moon will compete with the annual spectacle of shooting stars. Called the “Cold Moon” or “Long Night Moon,” December’s full moon inconveniently falls on the 15th of the month—meaning the bright light will make it harder to see the Geminids, and making it all the more important to plan ahead and find a slice of darkness near you.
With an unobscured dark sky, you could typically see between 100 and 120 shooting stars per hour as Earth passes through the densest part of the Geminids debris trail. While visibility becomes more difficult with city lights or a full moon, you can still expect to see 10 to 20 per hour this year….'(via Condé Nast Traveler)
The Astonishing People Maintaining the World’s Rarest Traditions
Culture is humanity’s way of making sense of the world, expressed through language, traditions, and beliefs. Ancient customs—like the Pirahã people living without past or future tense, or the Inca communities risking their lives to rebuild a grass bridge—reflect the beauty and diversity of human creativity. Yet, globalization and economic pressures threaten these traditions. As languages vanish, villages depopulate, and artisans abandon their crafts, we lose not just skills but unique ways of understanding life.
The custodians of these traditions—whether a night watchman in Sweden, a soy sauce brewer in Japan, or a pasta maker in Sardinia—are inseparable from their crafts. Their quiet devotion reminds us of the profound value in dedicating oneself to something enduring. In a homogenizing world, their stories rekindle wonder and show us that humanity is defined by its beliefs, and the richness of life lies in the diversity of its expression.
By preserving these cultural wonders, we honor not just the past but the whimsical, soulful essence of what makes us human. (via The Next Big Idea Club)
The Most Spectacular Meteor Shower of the Year Peaks Tonight — With Up to 150 Shooting Stars Per Hour
‘Will you brave the cold to look for shooting stars?…’ (via Travel + Leisure)
Mexico’s use of AI-powered app reduces regional suicides almost 10%
‘MeMind has connected 10,000 at-risk people with mental health treatment, contributing to a 9% drop in suicides….’ (Lillian Perlmutter via Rest of World)
Canada euthanasia now accounts for nearly one in 20 deaths
‘The rate of medical assistance in dying – also known as euthanasia – has grown in Canada for the fifth straight year, albeit at a slower pace.
The country released its fifth annual report since legalising assisted dying in 2016, which for the first time included data on the ethnicity of those seeking euthanasia.
Around 15,300 people underwent assisted dying last year, accounting for 4.7% of deaths in the country. Canada lawmakers are currently seeking to expand access to euthanasia to cover people with mental illnesses by 2027….’ (via BBC)
R.I.P. Poet Nikki Giovanni, 81
‘The renowned poet Nikki Giovanni has died. Giovanni died on Monday, Dec. 9, following her third cancer diagnosis, according to a statement from friend and author Renée Watson. She was 81. “We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world,” said poet Kwame Alexander in the statement.
Giovanni published her first poetry collection, Black Feeling Black Talk, in 1968. It established her as an emerging figure out of the Black Arts Movement. In it, Giovanni writes about the intersections of love, politics, loneliness and race. Her language is sometimes spare and longing, other times dense and righteous. The final lines in “Word Poem” read, “let’s build / what we become /when we dream.”…’ (Andrew Limbong via NPR)
Google says its new quantum chip indicates that multiple universes exist
‘Google on Monday announced Willow, its latest, greatest quantum computing chip. The speed and reliability performance claims Google’s made about this chip were newsworthy in themselves, but what really caught the tech industry’s attention was an even wilder claim tucked into the blog post about the chip.
Google Quantum AI founder Hartmut Neven wrote in his blog post that this chip was so mind-boggling fast that it must have borrowed computational power from other universes.
Ergo the chip’s performance indicates that parallel universes exist and “we live in a multiverse.”…’ (Julie Bort via TechCrunch)
If trump decides to stay in 2028, this is how he will do it
‘Given the degeneration of the Republican Party into a cult of personality, it is not at all unthinkable that if trump is still physically fit in 2028 that he and JD Vance could switch places on the GOP ticket, with the goal of having Vance elected and then stepping down to allow trump to return to the helm. There is nothing unconstitutional on its face about such a scheme. And there is no reason to think trump’s MAGA base would raise any objections to keeping their dear leader in power….’ (Bill Blum via Alternet.org)
The Earworm Eraser
‘It’s impossible to get catchy songs out of your head. That’s why we brought together music psychologist Dr. Kelly Jakubowski and audio engineers to create the Earworm Eraser – a scientifically-engineered track designed to get rid of earworms for good.The Earworm Eraser audio track works by incorporating scientific principles of music and the brain to disrupt the neural patterns that keep a catchy tune stuck in one’s head. The track features a series of audio patterns and rhythmic structures that are carefully designed to break the loop of the song in the listener’s mind.
Learn how teamwork made the impossible, possible: https://www.atlassian.com/impossible-……’ (via YouTube)
Climate change will fuel global animal extinctions on an enormous scale
‘Even a single degree of warming can have devastating consequences for the natural world….’ (Benji Jones via Vox)
“Prepare for the worst”
‘Journalists who’ve lived through freedom-of-the-press-hating dictators who have some words of warning for us here in Murica: with trump in office.
The Nieman Foundation at Harvard asked journalists from places like Hungary, the Philippines, and other spots where democracy’s taken a few kicks to the teeth what they think about our current situation.
Remember when trump sued CBS News for $10 billion because he was mad about how they edited a Kamala Harris interview? Or when he threatened to yank broadcast licenses from media outlets that hurt his feelings? Our international journalist friends say these are the early warning signs:
“American colleagues, prepare for the worst,” writes Glenda Gloria, editor of Rappler, a news site in the Philippines whose staff endured years of personal attack and legal torment from the Rodrigo Duterte administration. “If it doesn’t happen, you’ll be happy to be proven wrong. If it happens, it could happen fast.”
And when trump’s out there at rallies saying things like, “Somebody would have to shoot through the fake news to get to me,” journalists who’ve seen their colleagues actually get murdered think it’s smart to take him at his word…’ (via Boing Boing)
Kash Patel Is trump’s Scariest Cabinet Appointment Yet
‘Over and over again during the first reign of donald trump, weary students of strongman corruption and late imperial decline warned that “there is no bottom.” They were proven right, of course, and we’re about to experience an accelerated lurch into authoritarian chaos that makes the whole notion of a bottom seem quaint. Yet, with all those provisos fixed clearly in mind, it’s also safe to say that Kash Patel, hurriedly tapped over Thanksgiving weekend via the president-elect’s Truth Social account as the incoming director of the FBI, represents a significant signpost in the direction of the deeper chasms of the bottom….’ (Chris Lehmann via The Nation)
The Hunter Biden Pardon Is a Strategic Mistake
‘Joe Biden has now provided every Republican—and especially those running for Congress in 2026—with a ready-made heat shield against any criticism about trump’s pardons, past or present. Biden has effectively neutralized pardons as a political issue, and even worse, he has inadvertently given power to trump’s narrative about the unreliability of American institutions. …’ ( Tom Nichols via The Atlantic )
