Afternoon Tea 8.5.21 - Hard Times

Biden disappoints, Florida hospitals can’t get oxygen, ByteDance lays off hundreds, BTSNation is gaming the charts, Citizen will let you pay them 20 bucks to call the cops, and Cuomo’s reckoning fast approaches. It’s Thursday, August 5th, 2021 and your Vibe of your Tea is Hard Times, a deep house cut by Duskus. The rainy feel matches to the London producer exactly, so if you are in the middle of it, know you’re not alone.

Immigrant detentions soar despite Biden’s campaign promises (AP) This is essentially just so that centrists can attempt to convince people on the GOP fence to join the DNC. As opposed to repaying the organizing across dozens of states on this issue alone.

Florida Hospitals Fighting to Get Oxygen With ‘Hand Tied’ (Bloomberg Law) Much of the deep south including Florida is experiencing a touch of COVID related difficulty. To put it diplomatically.

Cuomo faces multiple criminal investigations over sexual misconduct (Politico) & Facebook executive helped Cuomo smear sex-harassment accuser: AG report (NY Post) & How Cuomo’s office sought help from prominent liberal advocates as it pushed to discredit an accuser (Washington Post) & Governor Cuomo’s Woes Will Help Other New York Pols (Village Voice) As more details are analyzed, this continues to get worse for the gov who built a literal mountain to his achievements last year. The bits about the shaming/discredit tactics put him solidly into the Weinstein tier, ensuring he is a political non-starter. There are no wagons circling to protect him, only vultures and eyes on the throne.

Cuomo Increasingly Desperate To Shift Focus Back Onto Nursing Home Deaths (The Onion) The Onion Remains Undefeated.

ByteDance Lays Off Hundreds After China’s Tutoring Crackdown (Bloomberg) That thing we mentioned about China invalidating the ability of an entire sector to make profit? The effects are real and immediate.

Venezuela political talks expected to begin Aug 13 in Mexico (Reuters) & Mexico’s Quiet Return to Diplomatic Leadership (Americas Quarterly) Mexico has stepped out of our shadow and is quietly earning its place as a country of diplomacy and negotiating. This is promising news indeed.

Pro-fossil fuel Facebook ads were viewed 431 million times — in one year (CNN Business) & Facebook’s censorship-by-algorithm silenced Palestinian voices. Can its biases ever be fixed? (Wired) Energy companies had no problem getting around the FB algo, while Palestinian voices could barely find their way to the surface. Funny how that works.

BTS’ Butter Bombing? A Billboard Accounting Fraud. i (Sonny Says) BTSNation might be engaging in a coordinated fraud/spoofing campaign to jump up new release numbers. Welcome to neo-dystopian music promotion!

Citizen Launches a $20 Service You Can Call to Call the Cops (Gizmodo) We can’t with this. Citizen & NextDoor are terrible enough, but 911+ is infuriating.

Collapsing model iceberg injures visitors at Titanic museum (Boing Boing) Included because of the sweet, sweet consistency. The spirit of this iceberg will chase the Titanic all over the galaxy.

Poem of the Tea: I won’t soil your reading with my words. Magic from Ricky Ray.

leave it to me, friend, I know how to carry us home.

Yours,