Afternoon Tea 8.3.21 - Spiritual Opium

Officer Down, Opposition Murdered, Renters Forgotten.

August 03, 2021

A cop died during a shooting outside the Pentagon, GDP growth under Trump was the worst since Hoover, the Democrats deserve infinite crap for blowing the eviction moratorium, Amazon wants to buy your palm print, and Zoom was fined peanuts. It’s Tuesday, August 3rd 2021, and this is your Vibe of the Tea (Editor’s Note: We’re experimenting with adding the tune first, to give you a vibe while reading. Going old school, enjoy a wild mashup between Tupac & the Jackson 5).

Fourth officer who responded to the US Capitol on January 6 dies by suicide (WUSA9) & Police officer dies following shooting outside the Pentagon building, law enforcement sources say (CNN) At some point, we wonder if the stochastic terrorism is going to be too much for the BlueLivesMatter crew. This anti-cop violence and lack of support for those who stood their ground on 1/6 doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

If They Say They Know, They Don’t Know (Slate) & Think Of Your COVID-19 Vaccine Like A Very Good Raincoat, Says Dr. Leana Wen (NPR) The first piece illustrates a consistent theme for the last 15 months. Confident predictions lead to suffering. And this metaphor about vaccines vs Delta, from Dr. Leana Wen, ER doc at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, former health commissioner of Baltimore, might help.

If it's drizzling or you're in a rainstorm? You're well-protected. "But if you're going in and out of thunderstorms every single day and now there's a hurricane — at some point you're going to get wet," she says.

GDP Growth Under Trump Was the Worst Since Hoover (Bloomberg) We’re all pretty sick & tired of winning. Image below for those readers who are Extremely Online.

The Democrats treated renters like a forgotten class project that’s suddenly due (Welcome to Hell World) & Biden administration expands resettlement eligibility for Afghans amid Taliban gains (Politico) & CDC extends Trump-era policy that allows migrants to be expelled over COVID concerns (USA Today) These stories might not seem related, but they truly underscore “great haste when demanded, sloth otherwise.” The fuckery on display seeing the CDC can erroneously blame migrants, while fumbling the ball totally on the rent moratorium, is only matched by the Biden administration somehow not preparing for the thousands of translators and scouts for the US military. Especially given Biden has been in the White House for almost half of the war. When they want something, they’ll find any way. When they don’t, they’ll find any excuse. 

Belarusian NGO chief found hanged in Ukraine (DW) NGO head who was helping people escape Belarus, straight up murdered in Kyiv. I guess we’re just good with this now.

Tencent Weighs Kids Games Ban After ‘Spiritual Opium’ Rebuke (Bloomberg) China’s smackdown of its tech sector continued apace, with the focus fire turning towards gaming. I’d love to know all the nuances of the meaning of Chinese phrasing and writing of “Spiritual Opium,” given the fraught history.

Zoom to pay $85M for lying about encryption and sending data to Facebook and Google (Ars Technica) This feels like peanuts given the scale of what was done, but I suppose we’re all so inured to it that it won’t even register on most radar.

Amazon will pay you $10 in credit for your palm print biometrics (TechCrunch) Unless Amazon is buying you a house that you have to use your palm print to open, do not give them your palm print. This is the company that shares Nest footage with police departments without your permission, what do you think they’d do with your hand?

Dear Fuck-Up: I Feel Old and Washed Up (Gawker) Brandy Jensen is one of the finest writers of the dystopian era. “How to Poach an Egg and Leave a Marriage” is a triumph of words and feelings that we’re usually too horrified or disappointed in ourselves to share. This column is no exception. One good bit:

Sure, I could theoretically go to Prague or Dublin or Lisbon this year, but I can never ever be 25 in Prague, or 25 in Lisbon, or 25 and in love with the girl I let slip away because she terrified me. It’s natural to think about the person I would be today if I had done any of those things, instead of the things I did. But this fantasy of different choices elides the constraint of me being the person doing the choosing. There is simply no world in which I chase after that girl because I wasn’t, at that point, a person who would do that. There is probably no world in which you settled down at 26 because you were the sort of person who goes to get a Ph.D instead. Hindsight cannot change that.

Pokémon GO influencers threaten a boycott after Niantic removes COVID safety measures (TechCrunch) Speaking of feeling old & washed up, there are Pokemon influencers now? Though, more seriously, this set of actions by Niantic is needlessly harmful, and I know more than one parent who is very concerned the beloved safety measures that were put in place are being removed.

Poem of the Tea: Since you have a tune above, let’s see if people enjoy new, live performed poetry. Miss Punny Pennie is a delightful Scottish poet. This spoken word is lovely, let it wash over you. Get to the end for a little positive message.

But enough about my mindtonight there’s you, and you will do, and I’ve told myselfthis through and through.this one, is kind…

I can’t promise I will dreamof you, I’ll dream of him like I always do and cry hisname, but when I wake I’llfind your arms and healagain.

Yours,