Afternoon Tea 2.1.2021 - Black & White

Contrast, as snow blankets Gotham...

February 01, 2021

Myanmar’s military saw us cosplaying a coup, Russia continues to protest against Putin, the American Deep Lie continues to fester, podcasts are a great way to avoid detection, flying car hubs in Florida, and the Great Unbundling of 2020. It’s Monday, February 1st 2021, and this is the Tea.

Myanmar Military Takes Power for One Year, Suu Kyi in Detention (Bloomberg) & Aung San Suu Kyi: How a peace icon ended up at a genocide trial (BBC) This is still developing, but when the military decides they’re done talking, they’re done. To see that in action, here’s an aerobics video with the convoy moving to capture Parliament in the background:

They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn’t vote in (CNN) & Tucker Carlson and The Deep Lie (Morning Shots - The Bulwark) & Portland protests shape District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s young tenure (Oregon Live) Eight of those facing charges for trying to overturn the election didn’t vote. Can we please stop pretending that people with national platforms and millions of readers can be censored or canceled? A Portland cop doxxed a prosecutor trying to reform the system, we just had a fake insurrection, and the right is whining about PC culture?

Twitter and YouTube Banned Steve Bannon. Apple Still Gives Him Millions of Listeners (ProPublica) I’ve recommended podcasts and advertising in podcasts to dozens of clients at my day job as SEO director. They aren’t indexed by Google and very poorly tracked, so this tactic makes absolute sense.

How to have a difficult conversation & avoid the muck of blame and anger (Psyche - Guide) In college & grad school I took course on conflict resolution, negotiations, and mediation. I forget we don’t teach this stuff at all, especially to people who aren’t studying the mind or emotions in some way.

Russia: More than 5000 arrested as Alexei Navalny supporters defy protest ban (DW) & Russia: Population shrinks for first time in 15 years (AJZ) Remember that protest in Russia from last week? The situation has not changed, so protests hit 100 cities across 11 time zones. The forces at Putin’s disposal are increasingly not fucking around, but neither are the protesters:

This Might Be a Good Time for Democrats in Congress to Stop Trading Stocks (New Republic) & For foreign startups, all roads lead to Delaware (RestOfWorld) This is one of those times where the Democrats need to stop pissing on our legs and telling us its raining. Time to clean house and get those “legal, but gross” things turned into “illegal” things.

Empty office buildings are still devouring energy. Why? (FastCompany) Pre-pandemic leases are keeping empty office building AC running, and this is only going to get weirder and more expensive as buildings attempt to keep people safe.

Study Finds Artists Become Famous through Their Friends, Not the Originality of Their Work (Artsy) From 2019, but included because more context on momentum and network effects is helpful I think.

The Great Unbundling (Benedict Evans) This Jan 2021 slide deck is a great (insanely boring to non-finance or tech people) look at the industries associated with the biggest tech companies, e-commerce, and trends for the last year. The presenter is biased towards big tech and investing, but with that in mind, his insights are massively helpful in understanding how Feb 2021 is different than Feb 2020 or Feb 2010.

Flash Give: When asked to signal boost for a pillar of a community, to ensure this quadriplegic can stay in a home that was built with his disabilities in mind, I couldn’t say no. Though they’ve met their smallish goal, every dollar keeps them in that place a bit longer. Hit the link if you have to give, no commissions or affiliate things go to me. (Editor’s Note: This won’t be a regular addition, but if you or someone you care about is in need, reach out. Factual Dispatch doesn’t have brands to please, we have readers with lives, communities, and struggles.)

Song of the Tea: One, † ŦĦ€ ǤΔΜ€Ş Ŵ€ ƤŁΔ¥ † is a crazy good name for a label/collective. Two, Akira samples are always welcome.

A city shivers,Reminded what storms could be.Silence underfoot.

Yours,T