Afternoon Tea 8.12.21 - Gangster Fallout

An oil spill in the Black Sea, a QAnon dad killed his kids, bees were stolen in the Hamptons, China is banning karaoke songs, eco terrorism is a thing again, and the Brazilians like a ton of cocaine in a plane owned by Turkish government. It’s Thursday, August 12th 2021, and this is your Tea. Thursday’s vibe is from MitiS, an artist we’d been following since ::checks notes:: 2012?! Well, time to take a calcium supplement. The rest of you dance in the light with RØRY and MitiS.

(Editor’s Note: “We put the hell in hello and the good in good-bye” is one of those lines you’d be forgiven for being mad you didn’t come up with. We certainly were.) 

Brazil’s cocaine bust on a Turkish jet has traces to President Erdoğan and his associates (Nordic Monitor) “I am sick of this 1.3 tons of cocaine on a mother fucking plane!” Mr. Jackson said. But seriously, that’s a literal ton of cocaine my guy. Get the platinum security package if your unit of measurement is ton/plane.

Russia: Black Sea oil spill much bigger than first thought (AP) 31 square miles of oil spill, they pretended was 2000ish feet of oil spill. Strong work from everyone involved.

U.S. news California dad killed his kids over QAnon and 'serpent DNA' conspiracy theories, feds claim (NBC News) That whole thing about how misinformation only causes loose, nebulous harms? Not to be confrontational, but that idea can take a long walk off a short pier.

Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in company behind COVID treatment (Washington Post) This week’s reason to dislike Rand Paul!

How the Pandemic Now Ends (The Atlantic) & The case against anti-vaxxer coddling (The Week) “Delta is here now, and we need to deal with it” done two ways. The first, diplomatic & rational, the second, confrontational & annoyed. As per the former:

When They Fantasize About Killing You, Believe Them (The Atlantic) Today is the four year anniversary of Heather Heyer’s murder by fascists in Charlottesville. It’s not just the Maya Angelou quote.

Ohio Court Sentences Black Woman to 18 Months in Prison the Day After Giving White Woman Probation for Same Crime (The Root) 238k, probation. 40k, jail. Guess.

Thousands of honeybees stolen from East End farms (ABC7) Who the fuck is out here stealing BEES? It’s not just hot as crap outside, you’re coming up with a heist scheme that asks the question “What if The Wickerman, but make it Hamptons.”

FBI investigating 41 cases of eco-sabotage in Washington (The Hill) Wait, we have left wing terrorism again? Seriously? 40+ cases since 2020 alone?! Who knew there was a separate section of the US Code to punish terrorist attacks against rail lines & trains specifically?

China to ban karaoke songs with ‘illegal content’ that endangers national unity (Guardian) I love this story. Banned content “would include that which endangers national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity, violates state religious policies by propagating cults or superstitions, or which encourages illegal activities such as gambling and drugs.” I can’t wait to see which songs don’t encourage drugs or gambling.

Poem of the Tea: Andrea Gibson is a psychic samurai EMT. She will break your heart and re-set it after you patched it together incorrectly. Like you always do.

Shine on against your assorted disasters you magnificent creatures. Give those calamities no quarter.

Yours,