Birdsong of the Day
Gray Catbird:
Turkey Foot Park, Boone, Indiana, United States. A duet, of a sort!
In Case You Might Miss…
(1) AI autocoprophagy..
(2) The Zuckerberg™ clones itself..
(3) Theories of Consciousness.
Politics
Election 2026
“Progressives’ big dilemma in the California governor’s race” [Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine]. “Much of the strategic buzz over the strangely low-profile yet high-stakes California gubernatorial race has revolved around two issues. First, there’s the fear among Democrats that, owing to their crowded field and the state’s nonpartisan top-two primary system, there could be a ‘Republican lock-out.’ If Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco finish first and second in the June 2 primary, the heavily Democratic state will be forced to elect a Republican governor in November. Second, there’s the search for a Democratic successor in the center-left ‘lane’ previously occupied by early front-runner Eric Swalwell, whose candidacy imploded spectacularly over allegations of criminal sexual misconduct. The apparent winner of that sweepstakes has been former California attorney general and Biden-administration [entirely useless] HHS secretary Xavier Becerra, who had a big polling surge after Swalwell’s exit and has attracted some serious money. Now a third issue is gaining steam, just as mail ballots were sent out to every California voter: Who’s progressives’ best bet, Congresswoman Katie Porter or reformed hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer?” • I’m so old that I can remember when the Democrats introduced “top two” to lock out Republicans!
“We Need a Left-Labor Presidential Candidate” [Ashik Siddique and Megan Romer, Jacobin]. “Zohran’s victory has reshaped expectations about what is politically possible, contributed to the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) growth to over one hundred thousand members, and inspired new candidates with strong ties to social movements to run nationwide. At the same time, approval of Democratic Party leadership has sunk to record lows, with many voters eager for a real political alternative. The Left has a historic opportunity — and a responsibility — to seize the moment. That’s why we, the national cochairs of DSA, are calling for a new popular coalition of social movements, labor, and the Left to recruit and run a candidate for president of the United States. Bernie Sanders’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020 transformed American politics, leading to massive growth for left-wing movements and a heightened sense of class consciousness.” And: “The No Kings protest and anti-ICE protests are evidence of resurgent political energy and enthusiasm on the Left.” Holy moley, “No Kinds has nothing to do with the Left, capitalized “L” or not. More: “The current political moment demands that we forge a new political opposition movement rooted in the working class against Trumpism and the Democratic Party establishment.” • And ballot access?
Republican Funhouse
“Evangelical groups warn Trump’s deportations could leave 1.3M ‘torn apart’ from families” [Religion News]. ” A new report created by a pair of evangelical Christian organizations is raising alarms about the effects of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort on families, arguing that more than 1 million people could be ‘torn apart’ from their families if current immigration policies continue at expected rates. The report, which was released on Monday (May 4), was produced through a partnership between two prominent evangelical Christian organizations: World Relief, which helps resettle refugees, and the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella organization that represents a broad swath of evangelicals…. The authors stress they are ‘not saying that all deportations are unjust or unwarranted,’ but cite Scripture to argue that ‘Jesus makes abundantly clear that what God has joined together in marriage, human institutions should not separate.’” • I hate to deploy “anchor marriages,” but….
Geopolitics
“Trump Cannot Just Win the Strait. He Has to Win the Oil Curve” [OilPrice.com]. “Markets can absorb bad news better than they can absorb incoherence. Reuters reported that oil prices moved sharply on peace-framework reports, with Brent briefly trading below $100 before paring losses. That is the futures market telling Washington something important: language now moves barrels before barrels move. Every presidential statement, Pentagon briefing, sanctions announcement, and diplomatic leak now becomes part of the oil curve. If the administration wants to keep allied energy markets functioning, it should state clearly what it is trying to achieve, what conditions would reopen flows, what conduct would trigger escalation, and what energy-security measures are already in motion. Strategic ambiguity may have military uses. In oil markets, excessive ambiguity becomes a tax. The next 45 days will likely decide whether the war premium melts toward a diplomatic-risk premium or hardens into a structural supply premium. The next 90 days will likely decide whether companies rebuild inventories calmly or hoard defensively; whether futures liquidity remains deep or becomes brittle; whether diesel and jet-fuel shortages stay manageable or spread into inflation; and whether allies view U.S. energy leadership as an operating system or merely a slogan.” • But surely individual market players “absorb incoherence” just fine? Especially when they’re front-running?
Stay safe out there!
Groves of Academe
“College students are noticing their AI‑smoothed writing sounds strong — and not like them” [The Conversation]. “Writing is more than a technical skill. It is one of the primary ways students structure and elaborate ideas, demonstrate competence and position themselves as emerging professionals…. In my research, I have observed college STEM classes, taken field notes and spoken with a cohort of students multiple times over a two year period about their work. I often hear a version of the same concern: the AI-generated draft is technically strong, but ‘it does not sound like me.’ This concern reflects the insight that ‘voice’ or ‘sound’ in writing is a signal of legitimacy.” Soon, “voice” will be seen as a detriment. Deru kugi wa utareru. More: “Yet institutions often favour more standardized forms of writing. AI can intensify this by making a fluent, generic style instantly available. For some students, this lowers barriers and supports access. For others, it feels like self-erasure. One student put it this way: ‘It’s better writing, yeah, it sounds good and helps get a better grade. But it’s kinda generic. Like anyone could’ve written it, not just me.’ This recurring pattern in the data points to a broader tension: phrasing, structure and tone in writing carry traces of identity, traces AI can smooth or erase.” • Yes, that’s why they call it “slop.”
Public Health
“WHO Warns of Potential for More Virus Cases as New Cruise Details Emerge” [Maritime Executive]. “While saying the public health risks are low, the World Health Organization is describing the hantavirus outbreak associated with the expedition cruise ship Hondius as a ‘serious incident.’ It warned that it is possible more cases will be reported as the first suspected case from a person not on the ship was reported, and globally, health officials are working to trace contacts….. The cruise line reported today that a total of 30 passengers had disembarked from the Hondius on April 24 in Saint Helena, and it is suspected that most of them took an airplane to South Africa. Health officials spanning from South Africa to Singapore and France are tracking the disembarked passengers and their potential contacts. On Saint Helena, a small number of people who came in close contact with the passengers were told to isolate for 45 days. A French citizen who had left the ship is reported to be showing “benign symptoms,” and today reports are that a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight attendant has been hospitalized with a suspected case. The WHO is working to trace the movements of the passengers… WHO reports that five cases are now confirmed, with a total of eight suspected cases, including the three deceased passengers.”
Photo Book
“From Rolling Mill to Drone Factory: The Sight of Work” [Nonsite.org]. “Could we begin with the question: What does labor look like under conditions of industrial production—large-scale factory-based industry, that is, processing raw materials and producing commodities (harmless or deadly) for sale in a world market? Does work in such conditions open itself to be looked at? And if it is looked at directly, can it be described at all adequately in visual terms? Is the specific character of labor in industrial capitalism “representable?”” • Good question! But the prose is a jit dense for me. I prefer John Berger. Nevertheless:
Sebastião Delgado, Gold Mine, Serra Pelada, gelatin silver print. I believe that form of mining is called “artisanal.”
Class Warfare
“Bezos Is Ditching His Record-Breaking Mega Yacht Because It’s Just Too Big” [Jalopnik]. “Hey, remember Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ record-breaking $500-million sailing yacht? The one he named Koru? Yes, the ship that created a minor international incident when it became clear the ship couldn’t make it from the dockyard in the Neatherlands to the sea without dismantling a beloved bridge…. Turns out, the world’s largest sailing vessel is just too large. The poor billionaire couldn’t even dock his 417-foot yacht in the Florida Everglades, having been turned away from establishing its dominance via deck envy to be banished to park with the lowly class workers of oil tankers and real ships. How dare they. In 2025, Koru again, couldn’t join the other yachts in the marina to show off Bezos engorged riches at the motoring event of the year, the Monaco Grand Prix, because you guessed it, size. Same for his wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Italy. They just couldn’t get it into the lagoon…. Trying to find another mega-wealthy person who wants a second-hand ship you can’t even park in the best party spots in truly a top .01% problem.” • Big swingin’ deck….
“simulacra for bootlickers” [McMansion Hell]. “[S]ome (many!) McMansions are, to put it bluntly, evil. And it is these McMansions that reveal the ugly truth beneath the ugly architecture: that the McMansion is a manifestation of power and wealth meant to communicate that power and wealth to others as explicitly as possible, and that it does so in a country besieged by brutal and inescapable income inequality. In our present political moment characterized by extreme and deliberate cruelty, fear, and baleful destruction of all that is pro-social in nature (and nature itself), I figured it was my duty to show my readers a house that embodies these sentiments, one we can all use to assuage some of our perceived powerlessness by way of mocking the sh*t out of it.” • For example:
“Zuckerberg’s ‘Multi Mark’ AI clone is a huge red flag for Meta shareholders” [MarketWatch]. “Mark Zuckerberg says he’s building an AI version of himself so Meta Platform’s 79,000 employees can communicate with him. His AI clone is designed to mimic his mannerisms, tone and thinking.” • Isn’t this a little meta? No longer should we say The Zuckerberg™, but A Zuckerberg™?
“The pendulum may be swinging back in favor of the trades” [Construction Dive]. “Buildings’ increasing complexity and strong construction activity in high-growth sectors are expanding the need for skilled trades, according to JLL’s skilled trades talent research report, released in April. These trends are creating demand for workers with advanced skills that can handle more complex building assets, mechanical and electrical specifications and health and safety regulations, the report states.” And: “Though U.S. labor conditions aren’t as tight as they were immediately after the pandemic, demand for skilled trades has been surpassing demand for other major job categories, with annual job postings doubling over the past decade. This outsized growth is expected to continue as the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and the emphasis on energy efficiency and emissions reduction drive the need for electricians and HVAC technicians in particular. The wave of older workers nearing retirement is also driving demand.”
“You’ll Never Guess Trade Unions’ Position on AI Data Centers” [Futurism]. “Trade unions have a centuries-long history of squaring up against the might of industrial capitalists to fight for rights that workers now often take for granted, from the eight-hour work day to the federal minimum wage to workplace safety laws. If you were to imagine how unions are responding to the tech industry’s massive push to build AI data centers across the country — an issue that’s currently uniting the grassroots left and right to an almost unprecedented degree in opposition — you might reasonably assume they’re staunch foes of the projects. But in the topsy-turvy world of AI, where alliances often seem to contradict traditional political categorization, you’d be dead wrong. Instead, unions are playing a pivotal role in the tech industry’s push to ram data centers through local opposition. According to the Associated Press, they’ve become a publicly visible force alongside pro-business Republicans and big tech corporations — two famously anti-labor cohorts, ironically. The core factor underscoring this contradictory stance is construction employment. When data center developers approach communities in search of land to erect their computational complexes, one of the main carrots they wave around are jobs, both temporary construction labor and permanent full-time labor.” • And they’re not even good jobs….
News of the Wired
“Theories of Consciousness — A Map of the 222 Theories” [Ricardo Forcano with Claude Cowork, Interactive Encyclopedia]. The “C” in “Cowork” should be lower-cased. A beautiful site, seemingly authoritative. But there’s no sourcing. No footnotes. What kind of clod produces an artifact that appears to be scholarship but has no scholarly apparatus?
Plant of the Day
Via ChiGal:
ChiGal writes:
Tree roots and paving stones jockeying for position outside of 57th Street Books, our neighborhood independent bookseller.
Dear readers, I am running short of Plantidotes! Thanks to the readers who sent in Plantidotes yesterday; I could still use more. And it’s nice to know that I do have readers. (Old-time radio, before there were ratings agencies, would mention a piece of jewelry on the air. They then measured audience response by the number of inquiries they got about it!)
Send your plantidotes as attachments to lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [AT] protonmail [DOT] com. And if you put “Plant” or “Plantidote” in the subject line, I’ll be less likely to lose it. Gardening season approaches, at least in the Northeast. Prep work is fine!