Afternoon Tea 9.28.21 - Otter Assaults

Rwanda & the USA have something in common, the GOP is fundraising off vaccine mandates, Google is going to index TikTok videos, the Supreme Court is partisan, river otters are attacking people in Anchorage, a boudoir photographer had their opossum taken by the state, and 131 Federal Judges broke the law to make that cheddar for their people. It’s Thursday, September 28th 2021, and this is your Tea. Today’s vibe continues the “hip hop that doesn’t involve sex crimes” theme, with Thinkin’ Again from Rehab’s debut album, Southern Discomfort. This sleeper duo of white rappers from the south just might surprise you with their lyrical cleverness.

131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest (WSJ) Infuriating and totally not surprising. We are the absolute worst.

Like the US, Rwanda is in a pitched battle over its history (Washington Post) A long, semi-disconcerting story that infuses minor urgency into the whole “He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future” thing we’re doing when it comes to misinformation and history reshaping.

GOP Launches Fundraising Frenzy Off Biden Vax Mandates (Daily Beast) Killing their voters to raise funds. Gotta love that kind of community support.

Google Working on Indexing Instagram & TikTok Videos (Search Engine Journal) The fire rises. If Google is able to serve up IG and TT content the way it serves up Tumblr & Twitter content, FB might not be able to recover from this blow.

The Lie About the Supreme Court Everyone Pretends to Believe (The Atlantic) Can we please bury the myth that the Supreme Court is apolitical? Given Clarence Thomas now being joined by the I Like Beer guy and the Handmaid, all pretenses of apolitical jurisprudence can be safely ejected from our cultural mindset.

2021 DCN Research: Gen Z Digital Media Attitudes, Values & Behavior (DCN) While there’s a ton of wonky data for perusing if you’re into that kind of stuff, we were stunned by the gab in FB usage between Millennials (Gen Y) and Gen Z. If you’re wondering where all the youth spend their time, it’s certainly not on FB anymore.

Otters are mysteriously attacking people and dogs in Alaska's largest city: "Unusual behaviors" (CBS News) River otter gangs attacking dogs and humans in Anchorage. We gotta wonder if their habitat is getting shredded, or they’re just sick of primate & canine attention.

Photographer, social media star Matt Mathews: Opossum taken by the state was his ‘baby’ (AL) How dare they! We don’t care that he’s not a licensed rehabber. Look at that face, Matt loves his opossum. Give it back!

MTA bus boss covered license plate to avoid tolls, had $100k in outstanding fines (NY Daily News) Gotta love when the grift just causes bad behavior to multiply. When you get 6 digits in fines, they should send marshals to find you.

Everyone who predicted Chris Pratt being cast as Mario (Tumblr) Those cursed with the gift of Monkey Paw Prophecy are more common than we think.

Poem of the Tea: Michaela Coel speaks from the heart.

You’re more courageous than you realize. You’ve survived tougher stuff than you think.

Yours,