[Exasperated sigh.]
Retweet if you agree.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) November 13, 2020
• • • an aural noise • • •
word salad: “A Breath of Fresh Air, brings forth the winds of change. A new leader with direction, to a land familiar yet somewhat strange”
~ Spring is in the air, and with that comes warmer winds and longer days. Then the flowers begin to light up the forests. It is a time for change, a time for new directions, and in this story in particular, it is now or never. ~
• • some of the things I read in antisocial isolation while eating breakfast • •
It’s my day off, so why not go turn on the fans to the grill vent hoods and have breakfast.
Lerwick, Scotland: ‘Shetland Receivers’
This audio art installation pays tribute to the weather and unique linguistic history of the archipelago.
‘Shetland Receivers’ Embiggenable. Explore at Home.
THIS ARTWORK BY LULU QUINN, with assistance from Alan Hart, consists of a series of speakers assembled with stone such as granite and serpentine, tying them to the iconic geology of Shetland. They are also dotted with seashells and play a series of recordings by Shetlanders.
Around 300 recordings, most of them from 2006, consist of residents of the archipelago telling stories and recollections of their memories. Longer fragments of sound are played when the wind is calm but faster winds will lead to shorter clips, with gales causing a constant, near-undistinguishable noise.
Many of the recordings were done by elders so, listening to the “Receivers” reveals unique aspects of Shetland’s linguistic culture. Although settled since the Bronze Age, one of the first modernly-recognizable cultures established in Shetland were the Norsemen or Vikings. Their Norse language eventually evolved into Norn, a distinct language spoken in both Shetland and Orkney.
When Scotland gained control over the islands from Denmark and Norway during the 15th-century, Scottish immigration increased drastically. This lead to a Scots-speaking majority population and the extinction of Norn in the 18th-century.
English is now the most common language in Shetland, but unique versions of both languages are spoken in the archipelago. …
A Political Obituary for Donald Trump
The effects of his reign will linger. But democracy survived.
TO ASSESS THE LEGACY of Donald Trump’s presidency, start by quantifying it. Since last February, more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world’s deaths from the disease, the highest number of any country. In the three years before the pandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance, accounting for up to 10,000 “excess deaths”; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic. The United States’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House’s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump, below that of Greece and Mauritius. Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations, agreements, and treaties. The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000. About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border. The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown.
Trump reversed 80 environmental rules and regulations. He appointed more than 220 judges to the federal bench, including three to the Supreme Court—24 percent female, 4 percent Black, and 100 percent conservative, with more rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association than under any other president in the past half century. The national debt increased by $7 trillion, or 37 percent. In Trump’s last year, the trade deficit was on track to exceed $600 billion, the largest gap since 2008. Trump signed just one major piece of legislation, the 2017 tax law, which, according to one study, for the first time brought the total tax rate of the wealthiest 400 Americans below that of every other income group. In Trump’s first year as president, he paid $750 in taxes. While he was in office, taxpayers and campaign donors handed over at least $8 million to his family business.
America under Trump became less free, less equal, more divided, more alone, deeper in debt, swampier, dirtier, meaner, sicker, and deader. It also became more delusional. No number from Trump’s years in power will be more lastingly destructive than his 25,000 false or misleading statements. Super-spread by social media and cable news, they contaminated the minds of tens of millions of people. Trump’s lies will linger for years, poisoning the atmosphere like radioactive dust.
PRESIDENTS LIE routinely, about everything from war to sex to their health. When the lies are consequential enough, they have a corrosive effect on democracy. Lyndon B. Johnson deceived Americans about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and everything else concerning the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon’s lifelong habit of prevaricating gave him the nickname “Tricky Dick.” After Vietnam and Watergate, Americans never fully recovered their trust in government. But these cases of presidential lying came from a time when the purpose was limited and rational: to cover up a scandal, make a disaster disappear, mislead the public in service of a particular goal. In a sense, Americans expected a degree of fabrication from their leaders. After Jimmy Carter, in his 1976 campaign, promised, “I’ll never lie to you,” and then pretty much kept his word, voters sent him back to Georgia. Ronald Reagan’s gauzy fictions were far more popular. …
How Zeynep Tufekci Keeps Getting the Big Things Right
Dr. Tufekci, a computer programmer who became a sociologist, sounded an early alarm on the need for protective masks. It wasn’t the first time she was right about something big.
Zeynep Tufekci speaking at a conference in Munich. “I’ve just been struck by how right she has been,” said a Harvard epidemiologist.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans in January that they didn’t need to wear masks, Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar, a professor at the Mayo Clinic and the editor of the Blood Cancer Journal, couldn’t believe his ears.
But he kept silent until Zeynep Tufekci (pronounced ZAY-nep too-FEK-chee), a sociologist he had met on Twitter, wrote that the C.D.C. had blundered by saying protective face coverings should be worn by health workers but not ordinary people.
“Here I am, the editor of a journal in a high profile institution, yet I didn’t have the guts to speak out that it just doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Rajkumar told me. “Everybody should be wearing masks.”
Dr. Tufekci, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science with no obvious qualifications in epidemiology, came out against the C.D.C. recommendation in a March 1 tweetstorm before expanding on her criticism in a March 17 Op-Ed article for The New York Times.
The C.D.C. changed its tune in April, advising all Americans above the age of 2 to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Michael Basso, a senior health scientist at the agency who had been pushing internally to recommend masks, told me Dr. Tufekci’s public criticism of the agency was the “tipping point.” …
Mark Zuckerberg Insists Anyone With Same Skewed Values And Unrelenting Thirst For Power Could Have Made Same Mistakes https://t.co/dTtOF9356r pic.twitter.com/cP5TxuruIl
— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 10, 2020
Facebook lawsuits: the biggest tech battle yet, and one that is long overdue
Analysis: The biggest antitrust case in a generation has been compared to the years-long lawsuit against Microsoft in 1998.
The lawsuits against Facebook represent the biggest antitrust cases in a generation, comparable to the lawsuit against Microsoft Corp in 1998.
Facebook is facing perhaps its greatest existential threat yet as the company prepares to battle two antitrust lawsuits brought by the US government and more than 40 states. But while analysts are calling the crackdown an important step, whether the social media giant can be reined in remains to be seen.
The lawsuits brought against Facebook on Wednesday accuse the company of wielding its “monopoly power” to crush and overwhelm its rivals. The cases tackle Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp in particular, deals which federal regulators now say should be unwound.
The move by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 attorneys general is being heralded by some analysts as an unprecedented move, and one that’s long overdue. But there’s still a long way to go, especially as the lawsuits could take years to litigate.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen in the short run,” says George Hay, a professor of Law at Cornell University and former member of the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division. “I think Facebook has no incentive to resolve this case. It is not like they are facing jail sentences or a big fine.” …
RELATED: FTC Sues Facebook, Says Social Network Needs to Sell Whatsapp, Instagram
Move over, Rich Uncle Pennybags, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is coming for your gig — well, at least in the eyes of the FTC. Earlier today, the government agency announced that they, along with 48 state attorney generals, are suing Facebook, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram, claiming the company maintains an illegal monopoly — and not a bootleg version of the friendship-ruining board game. The motion alleges that after a “lengthy” investigation, the company’s acquisitions of WhatsApp in 2014, and “up-and-coming rival” Instagram in 2012, alongside harsh non-compete conditions, were, in fact, unlawful. “This course of conduct harms competition, leaves consumers with few choices for personal social networking, and deprives advertisers of the benefits of competition,” reads a statement from the Agency’s website.
“For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” New York AG Letitia James said of the lawsuit. “By using its vast troves of data and money, Facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats.”
As a result of the “groundbreaking” lawsuit, marking one of the first major legal challenges to big tech, the social networking conglomerate may be forced to divest its assets, most notably, selling Instagram and WhatsApp, and asking government permission for entering any new mergers or acquisitions valued at more than $10 million, CNN reports.
As many organizations would be when hit with a massive, investigation rife lawsuit, Facebook doesn’t seem too excited about their new court date. “The most important fact in this case, which the Commission does not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it cleared these acquisitions years ago,” Jennifer Newstead, who acts as Facebook’s VP and General Counsel explained in a statement. “The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final.” If only that was true when trying to refund my train ticket home for Christmas. …
Facebook Announces Plan To Break Up U.S. Government Before It Becomes Too Powerful https://t.co/4LxohgoWrA pic.twitter.com/0Xn3ic9iqA
— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 10, 2020
RELATED: The World’s Weirdest Pronunciation of ‘Microwave’ Immortalized In BBC Cooking Video
I say Microwave, you say me-crow-wah-vay? Earlier this week, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson lit the internet ablaze after bizarrely mispronouncing the word “microwave” while preparing highly-appetizing (?) black pudding meatballs with fatty milk on an episode of her six-part BBC series, Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat.
“Now, I’m aiming for quite a solid mash at this stage,” she said, pulverizing her pot of potatoes. “But I still need a bit of milk, full fat, that I’ve warmed up in the microwave,” Lawson explained, pronouncing the kitchen appliance “me-crow-wah-vey.”
this lives in my head rent free
i love nigella lawson man pic.twitter.com/PEpYD08RW9— gina
(@ginayorkiebar) December 9, 2020
(@ginayorkiebar)
“Eternally grateful to Nigella Lawson for letting us know we’ve all been mispronouncing microwave for the last 50 (or so) years,” remarked Twitter user @floellaumbagabe.
“Us gays will now all say Mecrowavay instead of microwave from here on in thanks to @Nigella_Lawson,” added @JoshPBooth alongside the hashtag “#CookEatRepeat.”
Us gays will now all say Mecrowavay instead of microwave from here on in thanks to @Nigella_Lawson #CookEatRepeat pic.twitter.com/KYtbOW7I4w
— Josh (@JoshPBooth) December 7, 2020
Other users even gave the incident the Sue Sylvester “I am going to create an environment that is so toxic” treatment. “I am going to make a mecro that is so wavey,” wrote user @escjames21 in the most quintessentially November/December 2020 image to ever grace our computer screens.
No one:
Nigella Lawson: pic.twitter.com/0cXf9YxJDi
— (@escjames21) December 8, 2020
…
RELATED: Award Celebrating The Worst Love Scenes in Fiction Cancelled, Citing ‘Too Many Bad Things in 2020’
Do you love reading really really really bad sex scenes? You know the ones with similies including streak like superheroes past solar systems, all that describe moans as somewhere between a beached seal and a police siren, and compare orgasms to a demon eel? Well reader, if the answer is yes, I come bearing bad news. Literature’s worst erm, love scenes will have to wait for their day in the sun as the Literary Review’s 2020 Bad Sex in Fiction Awards have been canceled. Celebrating the worst depictions of intercourse, the prize acknowledges the year’s most ‘unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a sexual nature in sound literary novels,’ including the three, erm, colorful examples listed above.
Yet in a year marked by a global pandemic, murder hornets, and the failure of the U.S. mail system, to name a few, the award’s judges have decided to put the accolade on hold, citing none other than the dumpster fire that has been the past 365 days. “After weeks of deliberation, the judges of the Bad Sex in Fiction Award 2020 have taken the difficult decision to cancel this year’s prize,” reads a statement on the site. “The judges felt that the public had been subjected to too many bad things this year to justify exposing it to bad sex as well.”
Yikes. Yet in spite of this decision, the judges offer a stark warning to authors everywhere. “With lockdown regulations giving rise to all manner of novel sexual practices, the judges anticipate a rash of entries next year,” a spokesperson said. “Authors are reminded that cybersex and other forms of home entertainment fall within the purview of this award. Scenes set in fields, parks or back yards, or indoors with the windows open and fewer than six people present will not be exempt from scrutiny either.
However, it seems the award has rarely ever lacked nominees. Over the years, numerous famous authors have won the not-so-coveted award, including Tom Wolfe for the suspiciously serpentine line slither slither slither slither went the tongue,” and musician Morrissey for the bizarre metaphors of the pained frenzy of a bulbous salutation in his novel List of the Lost. …
‘The first week was mayhem’ – how This American Life revolutionised radio
It has spawned hit spinoffs, bagged a Pulitzer and its evocative, character-led reports now have 5 million fans. Has This American Life grown too big? As the show turns 25, founder Ira Glass reveals what keeps him up at night.
Schools scandal … Chana Joffe-Walt making spinoff Nice White Parents.
Speaking to Ira Glass over Zoom is a slightly befuddling experience. His unique voice and speaking style, intensely conversational with lots of pregnant pauses and rising inflections in unlikely places, is now so recognisable that it is easy to think you’re actually listening to an episode of his show.
We are talking because this month marks 25 years since Glass founded This American Life, the programme his voice has become synonymous with. Initially dreamed up as a storytelling showcase for Chicago audio artists and new writers, it now regularly wins awards – including one Pulitzer – for its in-depth international reporting, and boasts several spinoffs, among them the hit podcast Serial. Glass is one thing that has remained constant, his repeated bits of introductory patter (“Each week on our programme we choose a theme …”) the closest thing public radio has to a catchphrase.
Yet the show – which now has 2.2 million listeners a week, with a further 3.1 million downloading the podcast – was born out of Glass’s discomfort with how he sounded on air. In 1995, he was working for National Public Radio as a producer. He wanted more airtime, but thought he was a weaker interviewer than a producer. So he took a step back and, with a few friends, started a show called The Wild Room on a local Chicago station.
Mini warfare … Ira Glass, at back, filming a TV version of This American Life in 2007.
“I would try to tell a story live on the air,” he says, “and bring in quotes, music, everything live – trying to tell the story to the other person in the studio. It was a way of practising being myself,” he says. “I wanted to do a documentary story that allowed for different colours: something funnier, more emotion, using the music as a kind of score in a film. All of that was a conscious departure.”
Those early live experiments led to the creation of Your Radio Playhouse, the show that would become This American Life. One of the first people Glass hired was Nancy Updike, who has worked on TAL ever since. “The first week, it was mayhem,” she says. “Four people putting together a live show we invented that week. But it was thrilling.” …
Manmade mass now outweighs life on Earth: Study
The New York City skyline is seen at sunset from Weehawken, New Jersey.
For the first time in history manmade materials now likely outweigh all life on Earth, scientists said Wednesday (Dec 9) in research detailing the “crossover point” at which humanity’s footprint is heavier than that of the natural world.
The weight of roads, buildings and other constructed or manufactured materials is doubling roughly every 20 years, and authors of the research said it currently weighed 1.1 teratonnes (1.1 trillion tonnes).
As mankind has ramped up its insatiable consumption of natural resources, the weight of living biomass – trees, plants and animals – has halved since the agricultural revolution to stand at just 1 teratonne currently, the study found.
Estimating changes in global biomass and manmade mass since 1990, the research showed that the mass of human-produced objects stood at just three percent of the weight of biomass at the start of the 20th century.
But since the post-World War II global production boom, manufacturing has surged to the extent that humans now produce the equivalent of the weight of every person on Earth every week on average. …
Ed. Yikes! That’s a lot of stuff. I was saving this for last, but something stupider more barely uninteresting at all turned up.
Video Goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
The trouble with the Nobel Peace Prize.
THANKS to Showtime and VICE News for making this program available on YouTube.
2020 was a dumpster fire of a year. Michael Kosta thinks we should all just pretend it never happened and start over again next year.
THANKS to Comedy Central and The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah for making this program available on YouTube.
The president continues to publicly press his case that the election isn’t over, but speculation among White House aides about a coming wave of pardons paints a picture of a leader who knows his time in office is drawing short.
THANKS to CBS and A Late Show with Stephen Colbert for making this program available on YouTube.
Virtue Signal breaks down Trump’s rejected Supreme Court case and the rise of Newsmax with New York Times media columnist Ben Smith. Plus, Kylie Weaver shares her best journalism from the year and her thoughts on Giuliani’s recovery. Watch the full segment on CBS All Access.
We’re all excited for 2020 to end, but for many, the start of the new year brings about a whole new crisis. And no we’re not talking about trying to stick to your resolution to be “be more present.” We’re talking about the housing crisis!
With the federal moratorium on evictions set to expire and no additional stimulus bill in sight, millions of Americans are facing eviction this winter. That is NOT OK.
THANKS to TBS and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee for making this program available on YouTube.
Seth takes a closer look at the Supreme Court rejecting a lawsuit seeking to block Pennsylvania from certifying its electoral votes for Joe Biden and the GOP attempting another Hail Mary pass to overturn the election results.
THANKS to NBC and Late Night with Seth Meyers for making this program available on YouTube.
CAUTION: Some language may not be appropriate for work or children.
Here’s more commentary for ya on the ever watchful closed-circuit television. Cheers!
FINALLY . . .
Rats besiege New York Chipotle, eating avocados and attacking staff
Rodents were so brazen that the Washington Heights location closed after the wiring systems were chewed through.
A rat runs across a sidewalk in the snow in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
AS COLUMNIST MARY SCHMICH once said, life, there are certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, and – I’m going to add one – you can always count on New York for a good old rat story.
Today that story is of the Upper Manhattan Chipotle food chain rats, who have been feasting on avocados and burritos – and, by the sounds of it – disturbed staff.
At first glance, it might sound like small potatoes compared to when the CDC had to warn against New York’s cannibal rats during the pandemic. Nor does it sound quite as frightful as the starved super rats so desperate to dine out that they threw themselves at horrified New Yorkers who were dining alfresco.
No, today’s rats have been running amok at a Washington Heights Chipotle – attacking employees, chewing through wiring systems, and causing the indefinite closure of the restaurant to the public.
“It’s pure chaos every time a rat appears,” employee Melvin Paulino told the New York Post – speaking of the brazen behavior of the rats. Although the restaurant is closed, staff are still regularly coming in to clean in an effort to help stave off the infestation. This includes some pretty serious survival tactics, including stomping rats and whacking them with broom handles. …
Ed. You’re welcome.
Ed. More tomorrow? Possibly. Probably. Maybe. Likely, if I find nothing more barely uninteresting at all to do.
ONE MORE THING:
The so-called "comedy writer" mentioned in the article is, ironically enough, a total hack.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) December 10, 2020
ONE MORE ONE MORE THING:
The worst part about getting hacked is now I have to erase and reset the universe.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) December 10, 2020
The Trump Presidential Library will be a deleted Twitter account.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) November 7, 2020
