Afternoon Tea 12.8.21 - AirPod OpSec

Fools don’t understand bluetooth, amputee soccer in Gaza, of course the CIA is into crypto, Dr. Oz is in migratory company, and they put a T. Rex into an ugly Christmas sweater. It’s Wednesday, December 8th 2021, and this is your Tea. Finishing out the week with an absolute conflagration of a vibe.

Politico Gets Dragged By Media Figures, Conservatives, and White House Staff for Deep Dive on VP Kamala Harris and AirPods (Mediaite) Politico wakes up every morning to figure out new ways to treat VP Harris like trash. We can’t say we’re massive fans of the VP, but Bluetooth is a significant security weakness, and for Politico to pretend this is some kind of burn after ignoring Trump’s cavalcade of digital OpSec fails is the height of hypocrisy. The wave of dunks from political commentators of all stripes was absolutely earned.

Wannabe Bomber Gets Zero Jail Time for Planting Homemade Explosives During BLM Protests (Daily Beast) So, what exactly do you have to do to get convicted for going GTA at a BLM protest?

New soccer league helps Gaza amputees cope with war trauma (AP) Amazing, tear-jerking story of hardship, triumph. Constant cries of “why the hell are there so many amputees?” while reading this.

Law & Order Taught Americans to Root for the Police (Teen Vogue) At this point, we really need a clear-eyed police drama where the cops solve no cases and just abuse the absolute smack out of their position. Or was that just Reno911?

The CIA Is Deep Into Cryptocurrency, Director Reveals (Motherboard) We were wondering how the CIA was going to pay for its SpecOps now that cannabis is above board.

Stanley McChrystal Accidentally Reveals the Dishonesty of US Generals (The Intercept) A spectacular example of hubris, own-goals, and the worst values imaginable.

Dr. Oz Has Company: Meet the Many Senate GOP Carpetbaggers (VICE News) Did we ever figure out which state the new Mayor-elect lives in? Anyway, it looks like Carpetbagging in back in style on the right.

Statistical Imaginaries: An Ode to Responsible Data Science (Danah Boyd) & Data is Wicked (Data Chasms) A pair of articles so far into the weeds, we’d recommend taking a quick stats refresher before digging in.

A giant 'black box' will gather all climate data for future civilizations to learn from (CNN) So, did they get the idea from Asimov’s Foundation & Empire? Or have they been watching AppleTV and couldn’t sleep?

Our world is a black box: predictable but not understandable (Aeon) Just because you can make predictions about how a system will act or evolve, doesn’t mean you understand the system.

It’s a Christmas Sweater on a T. Rex: You Sure You Want to Call it Ugly? (New York Times) Rex is gonna wear it until Easter, as its arms are too tiny to take the sweater off without help.

Poem of the Tea: Don’t stay in survival mode, there’s a huge world to blossom into.

You’re so close to the annual finish line. Next week we’ll be doing our year-in-review before shutting things down for the holidays.

Yours,