Afternoon Tea 11.10.2020 - Attribution & Corruption

Did you need another reason to hate Mike Pence?

November 10, 2020

Pfizer’s funding was German, Russia tries to put out the Azeri/Armenian fire, NYPD uncovers a 2020 Serpico, Ryan Cooper unpacks the 2020 election for Democrats, and a man feeds 25 raccoons. It’s Tuesday, November 10th 2020, and this is the Tea.

Pfizer Vaccine’s Funding Came From Berlin, Not Washington (Bloomberg) & China Vaccine Trial Halted in Brazil After Serious Adverse Event (Bloomberg) Pair of ‘rona stories for you today, confirming that Pence remains a fly-attracting piece of feces and that rushing vaccine trials have unforeseen consequences.

Nagorno-Karabakh: Russian helicopter shot down over Armenia (DW) Analysis: Azerbaijan, Turkey win from Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire (France24) & Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal brokered by Moscow prompts anger in Armenia (The Guardian) At time of writing, the Armenian protesters had not totally captured the government headquarters, but as with all things in this conflict, things are moving fast. After Azeri forces were able to capture a city that gave them shelling access to the Karabakh capital, the game was up. They managed to shoot down a Russian helicopter which technically activates Armenia’s alliance with them, so Russia moved fast to get a deal done before they were obligated to hit back. This, like the last 3 ceasefires, might not survive the week, so watch this space.

Gianaris bill would move up New York absentee ballot count to Election Day (NY Daily News) Counting the absentee/mail-in ballots at the start of Election Day, since they’re you know, already there. A genius idea that I’m so mad needs to be passed.

NYPD Cop Busted By Feds For "Key Role" In Multinational Cocaine Smuggling Ring (Gothamist) Hate the game not the player? I mean, this is pretty gangster:

Authorities also said the drug ring benefitted from the help of a corrupt Customs and Border Patrol officer who worked at JFK and helped escort the couriers through customs and baggage claim. The CBP agent is not named in the indictments.

Did Sen. Kelly Loeffler take advantage of a Trump tax loophole to write off campaign jet? (Slate) You couldn’t imagine into existence a more corrupt senator defending their seat if you were writing a sequel to A Wonderful Life.

A Guide to Non-Paywalled Finance and News Sources to Share (JayPalter) Great resource for the most exciting content you can think about (sarcasm futures!) for the dorkiest people in the world. Since most of the best finance content is paywalled, here are alternatives.

Joe Biden had quite a week, so did Japanese mayor Jo Baiden (Washington Post) And you thought it was bad when you had the same name as 4 people in French class.

The difficult lessons of Democrats' 2020 victory (The Week) Ryan Cooper says something a lot of corporate centrists need to hear right now:

This makes complaints from moderates like House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) that the left is to blame for unexpected down-ballot losses completely ridiculous. Biden did not support any of the left-wing policies that have been discussed of late — on the contrary, he constantly ridiculed and attacked them. In the debates with Trump he dismissed the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all, and elsewhere he said the police should get more money. Half the premise of his candidacy was that he was the safe bet who would be immune from right-wing attacks that he is a radical socialist. Yet now, when those attacks seemed to work in Florida, it's still the left's fault.

Polisario Front Warns Morocco Against Moving Troops Into Buffer Zone (Barron’s) Remember how I said the Western Sahara people wouldn’t take kindly to meddling? They’re not.

Winners of the 2020 Epson International Pano Awards (The Atlantic) Gorgeous panoramas for your viewing pleasure.

Man Feeds Mob of Raccoons Every Night As Per Late Wife’s Last Wishes (Distinctly Montana) You might think you’ve seen videos where the idea of a “mob of raccoons” was expressed correctly. You have not.

Song of the Tea: Strife II is the most talented liquid drum and bass producer you’ll never hear about. And yes, that is Steve Carrell talking about Proust in Little Miss Sunshine in the sample you can just barely make out at the beginning.

What's true in our minds is true, whether some people know it or not.

Yours,T