Thursday Thoughts 1.4.24 - Hemispheric Surveillance

Kicking off the New Year early! Instead of completing the subscription tier info, buying/configuring domains, and doing the brand development I need to be doing, I’m faffing about! These were a few of the stories that didn’t make the cut, that probably should have. We’re back with a Wondering (Editor’s Note: Wednesday Wanderlust? Is that something?) and a Dispatch on the migrant crisis next week! If you haven’t pledged, and you’re thinking about it, do it! And if you’re not subscribed, what are we even doing here?

Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records (Wired) & US govt pays AT&T to let cops search Americans' phone records – 'usually' without a warrant (The Register) When your intelligence apparatus is referring to it as “Hemispheric Surveillance” maybe we’ve gone too far? No, that’s just me then? Got it. Just as an FYI, the authority to do this surveillance, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), was extended for 4 months during the NDAA “must-pass” spending bill debacle over the holidays. On page 2353 of a 3000+ page bill. Kind of like a press release on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Congress provided $7.5B for electric vehicle chargers. Built so far: Zero. (Politico) Congress only passed 27 bills this year, making them the least productive Congress since the Great Depression. They’re so unproductive, they’re not even making progress on spending bills passed in 2021.

Housing Crisis Could Be the Death Knell for America's Middle Class (Newsweek) If you don’t already own a home, have a trust fund, or make exceptional amounts of money annually, buying a home

TikTok Influencer Recruiting for Secret US Bases in Israel (The Intercept) I shouldn’t have been surprised we have military bases in Israel, but I had hopes they were at least jointly run or something. Moreover…we’re contracting military base security out to private mercenary firms? That seems…the opposite of secure.

Who is Ghana’s masked presidential contender? (Semafor) Americans don’t know how good we have it. Just imagine someone running for office like they were a candidate on Masked Singer. Brings to mind Opey Olagbaju’s bit about Nigerian corruption vs. American corruption.

Mexican politicians are harnessing Swiftie fandom on TikTok (Rest of World) Proof that attention & reach are the only metrics that matter, this story from RoW is wild. Politicians riding the coattails of BTS or Swifties is of course the logical next step of the attention economy, and I eagerly await K-Pop groups delivering slates of endorsements. The pomp & circumstance associated with kissing the ring of Taylor will pale in comparison to what politicians will need to do when Jin is back from military service in South Korea.

Farmers Killed 10 Cartel Members with Machetes Over Extortion Fees (VICE News) Sometimes, you’ve just had enough. And sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Fake Toll Plaza Set Up On Gujarat Highway, Cheats Government For 1.5 Years (NDTV) Favorite goofy news story of the new year, from last year. Diverting traffic onto private property with a discounted toll? Now you’re just making the government look bad. Keep it up!

MrBeast Is Upset Again That People Are Weirded Out By His Charity Videos (Garbage Day) & Five Nights of Fan Service (Storytelling in Virtual Worlds) Gen X & Millennials hate MrBeast with the fire of 10,000 suns because they don’t understand how Gen Z sees the world. This Garbage Day explains it really well, especially if you’ve never seen his sometimes-labyrinthine videos. In parallel, I had no idea Five Nights of Freddy had an extended media universe that boxes in the same weight class as Final Fantasy, Marvel, and Star Wars.

Wasabi, beloved on sushi, linked to "really substantial" boost in memory, Japanese study finds (CBS News) Most claims about food, supplements, or non-pharma nootropics are a stretch, if not flat out false. Apparently the claim that the green stuff next to your Spicy Tuna Roll really can boost memory. Remember to get the real stuff, not the horseradish that was dyed green.

Forest City: Inside Malaysia's Chinese-built 'ghost city' (BBC News) China, having run out of places to build ghost cities within their borders, is expanding out. They’re now building ghost cities in more exotic destinations. So the people who don’t live in the Chinese ghost cities, have a place to not go on vacation.

Quote of the week

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (edited) 

Poem of the week

Vibe of the week

Hans Zimmer doesn’t need much help, but Karanda did well. An energizing dream to push you forward.

Keep your head up,tn