These Traces 099
1917, 2024.
It's the first headline I see: Alexeï Navalny is dead. I'm barely awake, still in bed but getting ready to start the day. We added blackout curtains recently, so the bedroom's in pitch darkness, with just a sliver of light peaking through where the panels overlap. Hard to tell if the sun is shining or not. I don't think it is.
The news come a week ahead of the two-year anniversary of the Ukraine invasion. After Carlson sat down for a degrading stunt interview in Moscow, after Trump called on Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to European countries who didn't “pay their bills”. Fucking idiot. The useful sort to some, though. And days after a senator fawned over Putin being “on top of his game”.
Tell that to Navalny's wife.
Tell that to his daughter.
His mother.
There are true patriots in this world, but they're not french kissing flags, beating up cops, selling pillows, or NFTs. They don't shout dictatorship! With their bellies full of grifted cash, free to spew lies without any consequence other than more opportunities to spew more lies. They don't use “freedom” as a weapon for intolerance, and imposing their faith on others. They don’t fake courage through indecency and insults.
War is Peace, he said.
George—The Great and Almighty Seer.
I open the curtains. It's snowing and the world is gray.
I choose to believe spring will come.
Written on February 16, 2024.
LINKS
DEATH, LONELY DEATH
Don’t be fooled by the somber title: this is what we’re capable of—when we're not busy destroying. A tale of Voyager 1 that does justice to the little probe that could.
The man who captured the jazz age on film
The work of photographer George Hoyningen-Huene.
ANOTHER AMERICA — AI-GENERATED PHOTOS FROM THE 1940S AND 50S BY PHILLIP TOLEDANO
I struggle with the way AI is being developed, and its impacts on our ability to trust information. We're playing with flames we don't even know how to extinguish. This project is an illustration of how far this can go...but I'll be damned if I'm not enthralled by the work.
THE BIG IDEA: THIS SIMPLE BEHAVIOURAL TRICK CAN HELP YOU GET MORE OUT OF LIFE
Clickbait headline. But habituation seems like a nice tie-in to the discussion around last week's 4 KM Radius post..
the JOURNAL
