Afternoon Tea 5.18.21 - One Step Forward

I so love when one of my predictions is 100% wrong.

May 18, 2021

The USA released a 73 year old they’d been holding for 16 years without charge in Guantanamo, a few companies virtue signaling about democracy on Twitter are donating to some anti-democratic folks, the best outline of the great online game we’re all forced to play now, a reminder that the swings will kill you, and 24hr subway service returns! It’s Tuesday, May 18th 2021 and this is your Tea.

NYC’s 24/7 subway service is back after year of COVID-19 shutdowns (NY Post) We prattled on about how NYC’s subway would never go back to being 24hrs a day at least once, so this is calling out that we here at Factual Dispatch get things wrong too. Thank you for continuing to read your Afternoon Tea even when we’re not perfect Cassandras.

US approves release of oldest Guantanamo prisoner — a 73-year-old man from Pakistan (DAWN) Since everyone wants to talk about other countries being terrible, this is a nice reminder we’re still lapping plenty of places when it comes to human rights violations.

Prosecutors Seek Cooperation of Trump Confidant, Subpoena Manhattan Private School (WSJ) I know very little about this story, but I am intrigued to find out how many people or organizations the Trump grift takes down with it.

Migrants reach Spain’s Ceuta in record numbers (BBC News) & How migrant caravans are organized - and scammed - via Facebook and WhatsApp (RestOfWorld) An intense and complicated story is coming out of Ceuta, where Morocco has allowed/released something on the order of 6000 Sub-Saharan migrants to Spain. This looks to be in response to a Sahrawi leader of the Polisario Front (Editor’s Note: See Factual Dispatch #45) surfacing in a Spanish hospital. This situation rhymes with what Trump forced on Central American states, and how Turkey has disingenuously abused EU resources and trust.

Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup quietly collaborate with GOP group pushing voter suppression (Popular Information) Judd Legum continues to do super important journalism. Words & tweets from companies are meaningless if they spend 6 digits on groups that are working to suppress voting as their top priority.

Seven Apple Suppliers Accused of Using Forced Labor From Xinjiang (The Information) The growing typhoon associated with the global supply chain’s worrying reliance on Xinjiang & alleged forced labor has started to envelop Apple. Apple can’t extricate itself from the market like Facebook, Twitter, or Google, as iPhone sales in China are a key component of Apple’s long-term growth strategy.

Bitcoin is Crashing. This is What it Does (Irrelevant Investor) Bitcoin is down some worrying percent? It’s done this…10 times. Seriously. This is why smart investment professionals tell you to invest to your anxiety level, not to your knowledge. I can’t imagine being this anxious about this digital commodity.

Restoring Trust in the Think Tank Sector (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft) Extremely in the weeds, but if you’re interested in how to make sure hot garbage takes funded by autocrats don’t make it into Congressional hearings, boy do I have a document for you.

Facebook’s US data transfers suffered a setback in Ireland. Here’s what you need to know. (Politico EU) Facebook got dunked hard by the Irish High Court. They’re going to fight it, but the court ruled the company can’t “transfer” EU/Irish data to the USA. Important for privacy perspective, but given how redundant servers and data hosing works, potentially hard to do. For some devil’s advocacy counterpoints from from VC-turned newsletter guy Ben Evans:

But on the other hand, if an America friend posts a photo of me on Instagram and a German presses 'like' on it, whose data is that 'like', and where does it get stored? What happens if the US demands the same rule as the EU - where does this get stored then? This newsletter uses Mailchimp, which is based in Atlanta - am I not allowed to record email addresses from people who might be in the EU? How would I know? Rather too many of these cases just wish that the internet didn't work the way that it does...

The Great Online Game (Not Boring) This is one of the best metaphors and bundling explanations about how the internet-first market economy works now. Whether you’re an Instagram influencer, remote call center worker, blogger, or marketing SVP, we’re all pressing a series of buttons on a keyboard, clicking a mouse, and hoping to win one million dollars.

Song of the Tea: As the clouds part, the world slows down, and remembers how to come back together, dance in the sun to some crisp, shimmering Japanese Trance.

If I turn back now, then this will always follow. 

Yours,