Afternoon Tea 11.22.21 - Baby Gamification

The Baby Bust continues, China’s tech landscape is almost unrecognizable, someone in Maryland came down with Monkeypox, an Austrian had a ton of ammunition, the Japanese will allow foreigners in to work, and they’re trying to make ad space in your dreams. It’s Monday, November 22nd 2021, and this is your Tea. Today's vibe is from Sibewest, jaw-droppingly good new EchoBass talent out of Russia. (Editor’s Note: Have a bountiful Thanksgiving. We’ll be back Wednesday December 1st) 

 More American Adults Say They Don’t Expect to Have a Child: Poll (Bloomberg) Almost half polled say they’re either not at all likely or not likely to have a child. One thing we’ll never understand is Boomer refusal to back childcare and some form of wage relief. They really can’t put two and two together on this one?

In Just One Year, Beijing’s Crackdown Has Changed Corporate China Forever (Bloomberg) & TechScape: Xi Jinping’s ‘Little Red Book’ of tech regulation could lead the way (Guardian) Outside of the non-US tech sector, this has gotten essentially zero attention, but over the last year, the Communist Party has reshaped the emerging Chinese tech-sector. Entire sub-sectors of the economy have been restricted from making profit of any kind, and specific types of internet usage & gaming have been centrally controlled. As Big Tech pisses off Europe and the global South more and more, watch to see other nations look to this as a playbook.

Japan looks to accept more foreigners in key policy shift (Reuters) Epoch changing decision from Japan here. And that is an understatement.

Suspected Neo-Nazi's Astonishing Weapons Arsenal Seized By Anti Terror Cops (Newsweek) It wasn’t us! An Austrian had more than a ton of ammunition by weight. Which is only the second worst thing in his collection, next to the bust of General Rommel. When you have busts of Nazis and a literal ton of ammo, you might have a problem.

Revealed: Amazon to open 260 supermarkets across UK as it plots to take on Tesco and Sainsbury’s directly (CityAM) Amazon’s grocery click-and-collect systems have seen a lot more uptake in the UK than America, as the USA just isn’t really built for automated grocery purchasing given its reliance on automobiles. The UK might not be able to repel firepower of this magnitude.

Is Gamification Bad for Investors? (MorningStar) While these firms think it’s problematic when these tactics are used on people like them, they have no problem when companies they invest in deploy these exploits? Curious.

The QAnon JFK Cult in Dallas Is Tearing Families Apart (VICE News) & Facebook Isn’t Telling You How Popular Right-Wing Content Is on the Platform (The Markup) The QAnon JFK thing is reaching cult-status. If you’ve been on Facebook in the last few weeks, your family members might have already told you who is coming next. The problem is that some of them are being told death comes next.

Another Humorous Substack Panic (TK News) While Matt Taibbi has seen better decades, his recent anti-wokeification notwithstanding, this point about Substack being a failed experiment (that they’re still copying), 35 seconds after it was an existential threat to traditional journalism is on target.

Maryland monkeypox case confirmed: health officials (FOX5 DC) Monkeypox? Yea sure, what the hell, just throw it on top.

Inside Your Dreamscape (Aeon) Oh yea, real quick, companies are spending millions figuring out how to insert Coors Light ads into your dreams. We’re amazing.

Poem of the Tea: Give thanks for what you’ve been given. Naomi Shihab Nye reminds us of the bad & good.

Yours,