Afternoon Tea 8.2.21 - $27.85 Beer

Turkey burns, Robinhood grifts, and Dubai makes it rain.

August 02, 2021

Sky News got banned from YT for 7 days, Turkey is burning, 43% of Robinhood users have fair or worse credit, Trump called cops pussies, the human race continues to break athletic records, we can truly be amazingly kind & graceful, and Dubai is making it rain. It’s Monday, August 2nd, 2021, and this is your Tea.

Sky News Australia banned from YouTube for seven days over COVID misinformation (Guardian) & Missouri doctor says patients getting vaccinated in secret due to backlash (The Hill) The Delta stories are fast & furious, but these two felt particularly bleak & withering.

Why is Lithuania seeing so many migrants? Blame Belarus, officials say (Washington Post) Morocco, Turkey, and now, Belarus. All nations that have threatened to “open the faucet,” allowing migrants & refugees to attempt to enter the EU. Given how the planet is changing, this is a global problem we’re going to need to stop kidding ourselves about. Climate Migration is real, and it’s only going to get worse.

Turkey: People flee popular tourist spots to escape wildfires (BBC News) & Dubai is making its own fake rain to beat 122F heat (Independent) & Water park? Disney guests swim in flooded Magic Kingdom streets (Click Orlando) Fake rain, Turkey is cooking, and the Magic Kingdom turned into a place to go hydroplaning. Clearly we’ve got the situation under control, and we eagerly await our post-climate change society.

Revealed: the true extent of America’s food monopolies, and who pays the price (Guardian) You know those food infographics that show how much of the grocery aisle is actually owned by the same company? It’s even worse than we thought.

Nearly Half of Robinhood Users Have Low FICO Scores. Should They Be Investing? (Motley Fool) 43% of Robinhood users have a credit score of under 650. The American average is 711. This means almost half of Robinhood day traders don’t have “Good” credit, as per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Trump: Jan. 6 Cops Who Spoke to Congress Are ‘Pussies’ (Daily Beast) & Why Do Republicans Hate Cops? (NY Times - Opinion) Can’t say we’ve heard the #BlueLivesMatter crowd coming to the defense of the cops who were injured, killed, or later committed suicide after the Sacking of the Capitol. Funny that.

Olympic records are being broken at a record pace (Economist) We are capable of such greatness. If we only apply ourselves and stop arguing about lines in the sand or kings in the sky.

The Moment These Two Olympians Decided To Share A Gold Medal Is So Joyful (BuzzFeed.News) & At an extraordinary Olympics, acts of kindness abound (Associated Press) Two long-time friendly competitors decided to split a gold medal, and that’s just one of dozens of stories. We can be so kind, so gracious when we have the opportunity. Also, if you want to see something extraordinary, the Black Ferns performed a Haka after winning gold. The Haka is so powerful, so awe inspiring. I can’t wait until we’re terrifying aliens with it.

When It Turns Out Your Pandemic Partner Kind of Sucks (GQ) This is very well written, and not entirely bleak.

Do you think that the people at the airport that run the stores have any idea what the prices are everyplace else in the world, or do you think they just feel they have their own little country out there and they can charge anything they want? "You hungry? Tuna sandwich is $9.00. You don't like it, go back to your own country." I think the whole airport/airline complex is a huge scam just to sell the tuna sandwiches. I think that profit is what's supporting the whole air travel industry. I mean, think about it. The terminals, the airplanes. It's all just a distraction so that you don't notice the beating that you're taking on the tuna.

Song of the Tea: Do you remember chiptune? Do you remember funk? Do you remember Earth Wind & Fire? Boy do I have a gem for you.

Do you remember, never a cloudy day… 

Yours,