Joan Didion has died(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Joan Didion has died
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/books/joan-didion-dead.html
53 comments
Her essay on California's water system is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing about public works I have ever encountered.
http://archive.pov.org/thirst/holy-water/
http://archive.pov.org/thirst/holy-water/
The book Cadillac Desert and the documentary of the same name (narrated by Alfre Woodard) woke me up to this problem. (I live in CA but grew up back east). It's astonishing that we use so much imported water on our lawns (including during Winter) while watering lawns is not even necessary elsewhere.
If you liked Cadillac Desert you might enjoy reading A Kingdom from Dust, a long-form article in California Sunday magazine that details the Resnick family behind Pom pomegranate products and their lobbying for water rights in Kern county: https://story.californiasunday.com/resnick-a-kingdom-from-du...
Mark Arax, the author of that article has a longer book, A Dreamt Land, on the subject of California agriculture and water, (probably the article is an excerpt) that is a really good read too. A little more up-to-date than Cadillac Desert, and more focused on California and the Central Valley.
I find it funny that a farm in the valley has "water use rights" and will end up using millions of gallons of water per month and pay almost nothing for it meanwhile my sfm which uses about 15k gallons a month will cost $300 for the privilege and I'm allowed to keep going and water outside as much as I want however California regulations prevent me from installing a second shower head in my walk in shower wet room under the guise of not wasting water.
All this even though the place where I live is basically 97% recycled water so you're really just paying for the cost of treating the water.
Eh I generally don't understand why my property has to stay a dessert while 10 minutes from my house the farms take the water and sell it for themselves in the fruit.
All this even though the place where I live is basically 97% recycled water so you're really just paying for the cost of treating the water.
Eh I generally don't understand why my property has to stay a dessert while 10 minutes from my house the farms take the water and sell it for themselves in the fruit.
15k gallons per month?!? >7k/mo where I live in Colorado would result in a 4-digit bill and a nasty gram to boot.
I just got the property 45 days ago and left the watering system alone for now. I think my last bill was 16k gallons but I need to check again. I'm in Hawaii packing my old apartment till Tuesday.
A lot of water rights are based upon “first use”, ignoring the native people that were already there. So if the farm was in existence first, it has the right to the water over people who came later. Much like homesteading.
There is something so strange about reading such a beautiful thing and then reading that comment at the bottom. The juxtaposition is just bizarre. Is there a word for this feeling? It happens to me frequently online.
Anyway, thank you for sharing.
Anyway, thank you for sharing.
The song "That Funny Feeling" by comedian Bo Burnham may be related to the feeling you're describing
Wow, that is quite bizarre. I hadn't noticed the comment due to my browser extensions.
bathos?
>I have always wanted a swimming pool, and never had one
>In fact a swimming pool requires, once it has been filled and the filter has begun its process of cleaning and recirculating the water, virtually no water
can confirm, she's never had a swimming pool, they require the addition of water all the time in an arid climate.
>In fact a swimming pool requires, once it has been filled and the filter has begun its process of cleaning and recirculating the water, virtually no water
can confirm, she's never had a swimming pool, they require the addition of water all the time in an arid climate.
I thought you might have engaged in hyperbole. Nope. Thank you for sharing that.
> this requires prodigious coordination, precision, and the best efforts of several human minds and that of a Univac 418
The top of this page says 2004. Is that correct? Univac is anachronistic to 2004.
The top of this page says 2004. Is that correct? Univac is anachronistic to 2004.
I had a hard time finding a publication date for the original, but searching for it suggests 1979.
Thank you for sharing this!
Then you'd probably love "Powerbroker: Robert Moses and the Death of New York" by Robert Caro. Long, but he's a master.
Political Fictions is my favorite Joan Didion book, particularly her essay on Insider Baseball., which together with Asimov’s Franchise anticipates 538 and all the other media on elections that ultimately disenfranchise voters.
> anticipates 538 and all the other media on elections that ultimately disenfranchise voters.
Serious question: how does "media on elections" disenfranchise voters? I would have thought that they usefully inform voters, or at least remind voters of the importance of voting.
Serious question: how does "media on elections" disenfranchise voters? I would have thought that they usefully inform voters, or at least remind voters of the importance of voting.
Go read the sources I point to.
In the case of Franchise a computer does an interview of one voter and then calculates who the president should be.
In real life, if 538 was perfect at simulating the election there would be no need to have the election.
The point of Insider Baseball is that ‘horse-race’ coverage and coverage that pretends to give you an insider view of the campaign as the candidates and their staff see it completely avoid any real discussion of who the voters are, what they really want, what really motivates them, what alternatives they really have, etc.
538 in perfect irony applies the techniques and terminology of sports betting to politics.
In the case of Franchise a computer does an interview of one voter and then calculates who the president should be.
In real life, if 538 was perfect at simulating the election there would be no need to have the election.
The point of Insider Baseball is that ‘horse-race’ coverage and coverage that pretends to give you an insider view of the campaign as the candidates and their staff see it completely avoid any real discussion of who the voters are, what they really want, what really motivates them, what alternatives they really have, etc.
538 in perfect irony applies the techniques and terminology of sports betting to politics.
The funny thing is, they're just as often wrong with their sports predictions. No serious sports wagerer I know would ever rely on 538 to make their picks. Gamblers understand that touts serve two masters. Apparently, punters are less gullible than political pundits when it comes to believing that a set of chosen stats represents a neutral, scientific prediction.
Everyone likes to
hear what they want to hear - until the bill comes anyway.
Predictions are hard, particularly about the future.
They by no means have total control. People can still think. The point is media also provides interpretation. So, instead of going into a voting booth reflecting over your own needs or principles, you go into the booth thinking about polling and statistics. You vote for somebody because their number is higher on 538. It gets worse when you consider that the people being polled are themselves thinking about who is most viable or likable.
There are some people that are suspicious of polling averages and models have under-performed Trump vs. the official vote totals. They think it’s a form of “suppression polling” where the opponents supporters are demoralized by a conspiracy of weak polling numbers that suppress turnout.
I believe there are simpler and more convincing explanations for polling errors that seemed consistently biased against Trump, but some people are happy to jump to far fetched conspiracy theories.
I believe there are simpler and more convincing explanations for polling errors that seemed consistently biased against Trump, but some people are happy to jump to far fetched conspiracy theories.
One counter-vailing fact is Republican internal polls showed Trump losing up until election night in 2016. Polls they did for themselves, which they did not share at the time, showed him losing.
Aside from this, to influence opinions with sharing polling information, one just needs to change the question, or the audience, or both. "Should the US seek peaceful resolutions with Russia" will get a different answer than "Should Biden oppose Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's border". You can tailor the question to the answer, and have Americans either supporting or opposing abortion, or whatever.
Also, a poll of everyone will yield different results from a poll of, say, likely voters. You have to look to who is polled along with what is polled.
With these things done, there is little need to fudge the numbers, other polling organizations can ask the same question to the same demographic and get similar answers.
Aside from this, to influence opinions with sharing polling information, one just needs to change the question, or the audience, or both. "Should the US seek peaceful resolutions with Russia" will get a different answer than "Should Biden oppose Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's border". You can tailor the question to the answer, and have Americans either supporting or opposing abortion, or whatever.
Also, a poll of everyone will yield different results from a poll of, say, likely voters. You have to look to who is polled along with what is polled.
With these things done, there is little need to fudge the numbers, other polling organizations can ask the same question to the same demographic and get similar answers.
Why associate the comment you replied to with Trump, and why is associating that comment to Trump enough to dismiss criticism of publishing continuous polls as "far-fetched conspiracy theories"?
There have certainly been massive polling failures (and obvious push polling) in elections over the past decade that can be discussed rather than being dismissed for the sake of partisanship. The organizations who actually do the polling discuss these issues constantly without accusing each other of being deluded.
There have certainly been massive polling failures (and obvious push polling) in elections over the past decade that can be discussed rather than being dismissed for the sake of partisanship. The organizations who actually do the polling discuss these issues constantly without accusing each other of being deluded.
I think the simplest explanation is that pollsters are from the media/elite; when Trumpers get a phone call from a pollster, it's either their chance to "own the libs" by lying, or they're embarrassed to admit their reactionary beliefs so they say what they think a centrist or liberal would say. Then they vote for the furthest right wing loonies they can find.
You can see this kind of thing in practice if you've ever been a non-white person in a redneck bar.
You can see this kind of thing in practice if you've ever been a non-white person in a redneck bar.
Robert Caro talks the way an old New York grandfather talks, which is definitely very expressive, but I found myself going "mmm hmm" and zoning it out because it just went on and on and on.
It'd probably be good as an audiobook.
It'd probably be good as an audiobook.
A rarely mentioned part of her work is the small book Salvador. She wrote a fair amount on the horrors in Central America during the 1980s, many of which were backed by the US government.
It’s a difficult, harrowing read. But as a student educated in the United States well after these events happened, I never knew this part of our history and the long-lasting repercussions.
It’s a difficult, harrowing read. But as a student educated in the United States well after these events happened, I never knew this part of our history and the long-lasting repercussions.
NYRB, where she wrote for decades, has put her essays in front of the paywall.
https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/joan-didion/
(Their home page has a dozen specific recommendations.)
https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/joan-didion/
(Their home page has a dozen specific recommendations.)
The documentary about her, by her nephew, is still on Netflix. I just watched it. It's excellent. Initially I was a bit sceptical, because I only knew her A+ screenwriting and her lifestyle reporting, but she was a great one.
For those looking, it is:
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Didion:_The_Center_Will_N...
89% on RT. So pretty fkn good.
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Didion:_The_Center_Will_N...
89% on RT. So pretty fkn good.
And of course, At the Dam, one of my all time favorite pieces of non-fiction
http://deathray.us/no_crawl/others/atthedam.html
http://deathray.us/no_crawl/others/atthedam.html
Pretty sure I'm singing to the choir here, but "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", I literally cannot recommend it enough.
bsanr(3)
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