Afternoon Tea 12.11.24 - Luigi's Revenge

If you’re reading this, thank you. Thanks for still reading after absenteeism, weird delays, and a whole-ass replatforming. Best In Show is coming in place of Sunday Morning goodness, and we’re shutting down to do the painting, subscription stuff, and branding things that I ::checks notes:: should have done during last year’s holiday season? Where does the time go.

5th person confirmed to be cured of HIV (ABC News) We’re actually kind of doing it? While plenty of AIDS conspiracy theorists will wank on about there not being any money in the cure…we’re getting better at curing HIV? Slow and steady wins the race.

‘Unprecedented’ decline in US drug overdose deaths gives experts hope (Guardian) Additionally, it looks like Narcan, education, and reduction in oxycodone flooding has delivered the best news of the year. This should be celebrated in the streets across the nation. Instead, you probably won’t hear about it in between Luigi-related belches.

Texas doctor’s viral TikTok video taken down after Gov. Abbot’s threats (Chron) & NJ just struck a blow against banning books (NJ) Free Speech people get to see two states doing it two different ways. A Texas doctor was forced to take down a video reminding Texans they don’t have to answer questions about citizenship, the legally correct advice. For you know, reasons. Conversely, Gov. Murphy of NJ got librarians legal immunity from the harms that can come with book banning requests state-wide.

Should a Student Reporter Face Prosecution for Embedding with Protesters? (Columbia Journalism Review) The answer is No, but if you want a longer explanation, click.

Shipt’s algorithm squeezed gig workers. They fought back. (IEEE) Just pay people. We don’t need to engage in algorithmic arms races to get people a living wage. Companies should take pride in doing so.

The billionaires who bought our government (KeepTrack) A handy list of who spent how much, and how much their net-worth has increased since the election. Literally only 5 weeks, and some of these numbers are eye-popping.

Elon Musk’s DDoS attack on America (The Cause) & Elon Musk Was Sole Funder of Shady Pro-Trump PAC That Claimed RBG Was Also Anti-Abortion (Jezebel) Speaking of! Elon took what Cambridge Analytica did in 2016, but did it across dozens of issues. One PAC just pretended Trump and RBG saw eye to eye on abortion. Because you can just say any freaking thing in digital ads only the voter will ever see.

The Hawk Tuah Memecoin Rug Pull Is The Apotheosis Of Bag Culture (Defector) Instead of explaining why the Democrats lost, I’m just going to send them this over and over. This paragraph alone should be mailed to every single member of the DNC;

Quote of the week

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.
~Epicurus

 Poem of the week

Vibe of the week

May you be reading this somewhere warm, dry, and calm,
tnh