New Year, New War

I intended to assemble a round-up of year-end round-ups. I did not, although Jason Kottke has one. I briefly considered writing something about Iran. I have nothing to say on the subject but instead will recommend the Pome newsletter, which recently sent me the heartbreakingly topical 2013 poem “We Lived Happily During the War,” by Ilya Kaminsky.

In the last edition of this letter, I insulted Maryland governor Larry Hogan and felt bad about it, because what if he’s not actually that awful? Was I just waxing hyperbolic? Nah, he’s really that awful.

Other things that underline awfulness: Noah Smith livetweeting a conference panel about deaths of despair. A parent worrying about how to process the fact that their kid’s toy doctor set includes a debit card and point of sale system. Voting districts over-weighted in power because they’re filled with hundreds or thousands of prisoners who can’t vote. A new and gloomy analysis of Gen Z’s economic prospects by Malcolm Harris, author of the previous gloomy economic analysis Kids These Days.

I can’t tell whether this scathing indictment of the latest Star Wars movie is good or bad news, but I have been very much a fan of the scathing reviews of Cats, which have been numerous enough to warrant multiple summarizing roundups.

Cultivating Joy
99 very good pieces of news we tended to overlook in the gloom.
This dog has been trained to play Jenga.
This very soft looking cat.
This pupper tried to eat a bee, but he’ll be OK.
This list of people struggling with words had me weeping with laughter.