FD Afternoon Tea 9.22.20

Notes from the Anarchist Jurisdiction by the Sound. Come for War Boys, Stay for Brunch!

September 22, 2020

Greetings from the Anarchist Jurisdiction with Feta Cheese! The Thunderdome is set up, Master Blaster sits on the Iron Throne of Hizzoner, and roving bands of cannibals are chasing Kurt Russell around SoHo right now. It’s Tuesday, September 22nd 2020, and this is the Tea.

In the “Anarchist Jurisdiction” of New York City, I’ve Seen a Summer of Beautiful Anarchy (Teen Vogue) Fantastic discussion of living through the plague, protests, police, and patience.

#FinCENFiles: Secret Documents Show How Criminals Use Famous Banks To Finance Terror And Death, And The Government Doesn’t Stop It (Buzzfeed News) Remember when the Panama Papers came out and one of the only tangible effects was the journalist responsible for them being car-bombed? Nothing super bad for Trump yet, but Trump’s laundry, Deutsche Bank doesn’t come out looking super great. Boris isn’t coming out spotless either!

Scientists Found Creatures So Inactive They Expanded Our Idea of Life Itself (Vice) Hi Mark, I’d like to report a picture. Yes, I’m in it and I don’t like it.

Pandemic Economy Could Turn A Deserted Hudson Yards Into An Even Bigger Taxpayer Money Pit (Gothamist) $6.5 billion. That’s how much the Luxury Ghost Town has cost NYC. Just imagine how much good could have been done with that loot.

Last year CEOs pledged to serve stakeholders, not shareholders. You were right not to buy it (LA Times) Remember that letter that a bunch of Capitalists wrote saying they’d start caring about things? They haven’t started.

Did the $600 Unemployment Supplement Discourage Work? (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco) Short Answer? No. Long Answer? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Richest 1% Emissions are Twice that of Poorest 50% (Oxfam) Between this and the plastics thing, I think we can dispense with the individual responsibility trash related to Climate Change.

North America faced with 'time-bomb' of millions of 'super pigs' (Evening Standard) Remember the Feral Hogs? Apparently we’re going to have to cope with slightly more than 30-50 of them.

The Unlikely Friendship that Helped Legalize Same-Sex Marriage in Ireland (WeAreNotDivided) Not just for the heartwarming story of how same-sex marriage was won in Ireland, but for this amazing idea for government:

The experiment was this: 66 citizens would be selected from the electorate, a cross-section of Irish society — male and female, old and young, urban and rural, high and low earners. They would be joined by 33 politicians as well as an expert who would serve as chairman to the constitutional convention, for a total of 100 people.

This group of 100 would discuss amendments to the constitution that were being considered by the government. No expertise would be required. Each weekend in Dublin, the group would be given time to learn, examine and debate a different issue. Scholars and advocates from both sides would be brought in to make their case. At the end of each weekend, the group would make a recommendation to the parliament, which could either accept or disregard it. 

If Clinton Wins, Republicans Suggest Shrinking Size of Supreme Court (NPR, Sept. 2016) For no reason at all, a lovely blast from the past on the GOP’s plans to never seat a Democratic Supreme Court Justice nominee, ever.

Welcome the COVID Influencer (Anne Helen Petersen) College age IG influencers pushing campus safety for cash. As weird and horrifying as it sounds.

Song of the Dispatch: Fight like you’re triumphantly piloting a Jamiroquai mech, defending the world from bad funk.

Times may be turbulent, but we shall get through to the other side.

Yours,T