Touching Grass
Cumtown pulls no punches, Indonesian Tank Man, and the Swift-Kelce engagement's impact on global CO2 levels
This week, I’ve still been in the mountains. Park City, Utah. Where people comfort themselves for not being in Jackson Hole. Maybe.
Some things from this past week:
Cumtown Host: “It’s a stain on our history”
This is the year of 2025. The world is seeing something that looks terrible, and it’s being done in my name, and I don’t know what to do.
I watched Adam Friedland’s interview with representative Ritchie Torres. The piece has been making waves for their discussion of October 7th, campus antisemitism, and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As an American Jew who was also raised to be a Zionist but can’t ignore the human suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, I found it stirring.
But unlike the commenters pointing to Torres’ roboticism, I thought Adam unfortunately missed the mark. He came off as maudlin and inarticulate; the substance of his argument became muddied by his form. I could see the gears turning in Torres’ head on how to handle the situation - do I need to be on right now? Is he trying to get me? On first viewing, this felt more about Adam getting it off his chest - confronting his own reluctance to say the words Palestinian genocide aloud - than about actually understanding Torres’ conception of the Palestinian struggle for statehood or the moral atrocities occurring.
The most compelling moment of substance to me was when he presses Torres on accepting Black Stone’s money while representing the poorest district in the country. Torres himself grew up in public housing, and decries how underfunded the New York City Housing Authority is. Seems like there’s potential for some conflict of interest there, though Torres is a skilled deflector - he knows how to thread the needle and how to stay within bounds. That at any moment he could be clipped out of context. Despite the opportunity to show an unscripted part of himself, when he felt danger, he reflexively resumed the default position. You can watch in real time as the carapace of Ritchie Torres the politician goes up. He surely has a bright future ahead of him.
Indo-pendence Day
Violence erupted this past week in Indonesia as demonstrations of students against lawmakers’ allowances amidst low wages, rising inflation and unemployment (sound familiar?) escalated into a country-wide protest against police brutality and the use of excessive force on civilians.
Further intensifying the protests is the death of a 21 year old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan who was run over by a police vehicle in Jakarta during the protests. If you clicked that link expecting a clip of that happening, you’re a bad person.
Ask China. It generally doesn’t work out well when you run over your own citizens.
As of this writing, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has announced that the country's legislature has agreed to cut lawmakers’ allowances, though it’s unclear if he is referring to the controversial housing allowances that many in the country take issue with. As an American, it’s somewhat shocking to see protests actually work. We’ll see if the change is lasting. If you’re an Indonesian government official reading this, first, hi :), second, I hope you put that marble island in ahead of schedule.
An Immodest Proposal
This week, the climate crisis worsened as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged, generating unparalleled levels of carbon dioxide from the oh my gods, it’s finally happening, and the ear-piercing non-descript chortles of glee emanating from girls and gays worldwide. Even a CBS reporter couldn’t contain herself on-air, begging the camera operator to ‘come back to her’ as she processed the excitement.
At the University of Tennessee, a Bio Chem professor canceled his midterm when the news broke, giddily telling his class: “I can’t focus. You all can’t focus. Class is cancelled. Get out of here. We need time to process this information.”
So, big wins for civilian oversight in Indonesia and parasocial relationships everywhere else.
An Ode to Nuts
Hopefully, you’re doing something outside this weekend. Or not. I respect your free will. If you are getting outside - touching grass, or are at least grass-curious, here’s a poem I like by Ralph Waldo Emerson called Fable.
The mountain and the squirrel
Had a quarrel;
And the former called the latter ‘Little Prig.’
Bun replied,
‘You are doubtless very big;
But all sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together,
To make up a year
And a sphere.
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.
If I'm not so large as you,
You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry.
I'll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track;
Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut.’
I’m heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow. If you’re there, give me a shout or fire your flare gun into the sky. I’ll be looking.