[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, tweets … you name it]
[Videos]
Doug Henwood – Unpacking GameStop’s Stock & Wall Street’s Future [the daily Social show]
Dude made an instrument to play Popcorn acoustic cover
A Reporter’s Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege [the new yorker] (see article bellow)
‘Why are you closed’ goes Metal!
[Music]
BADBADNOTGOOD & MF DOOM – The Chocolate Conquistadors (the last recording of MF Doom R.I.P.)
[Podcasts]
Nicola Gess über ihr Buch “Halbwahrheiten” – Faktencheck allein reicht nicht [dlf] – Verschwörungsideologien, populistische Propaganda und Fake News profitieren von Halbwahrheiten, sagt die Literaturwissenschaftlerin Nicola Gess. Mit Faktenchecks allein komme man ihnen oft nicht bei, denn sie folgten einer anderen Logik.”
[Articles English]
The real lesson of the GameStop story is the power of the swarm [the guardian] – “If anything, GameStop could be a reaction against the zero-sum futility of day-trading. Far from saving you from bullshit jobs, trading is a bullshit job, and the only way to temporarily win at it is not to throw yourself into battle against “the market”. It’s to collaborate in swarms.”
The West’s Greed Could Come Back To Haunt It [der spiegel] – “A global initiative was launched to ensure that poorer countries would also have fair access to vaccines for the coronavirus once they were developed. Instead, the West is panic-buying the available stocks – and that could be devastating, politically, economically and in terms of human lives.”
Belfast lockdown – in panoramic pictures [the guardian] – “Northern Ireland’s coronavirus lockdown is to be extended to 5 March, and restrictions that forced much of the city to close may not ultimately be lifted until Easter. Charles McQuillan’s panoramic photographs of Belfast capture the scene”
Bernie’s Mittens Crochet Doll Bernie Sanders Meme Handcrafted Collectible Doll [ebay] – “100% will go to Meals on Wheels America!”
What If You Never Get Better From Covid-19? [nyt] – “Some patients could be living with the aftereffects for years to come. Recent research into another persistent, mysterious disease might help us understand how to treat them.” This article scared the living daylights out of me. What if this never ever gets better? I also find the heavy focus on Chromnic Fatigue very dangerous, because for instance in Switzerland this still derided and misunderstood, yet debilitating condition does not get covered by health insurance. It will also allow doctors already critical of chronic fatigue to further marginalise the people suffering from LongCovid. Don’t call it chronic fatigue, because here the cause is not difuse, it is clear, it stems from Covid. Other than that the article offers a good overview.
After Donald Trump, the Last Thing We Need Is Unity [jacobin] – “It’s good that Biden is going to reverse many of Trump’s policies, and it would be better if he were going to reverse all of them. (So far, there’s been disturbingly little indication he’s in any hurry to deescalate tensions with Iran or China.) But we should be clear on the difference between his “repair/restore/heal” agenda and a bold left agenda.”
How the Israeli flag became a symbol for white nationalists [972mag] – “The U.S. white nationalist movement’s admiration for the Jewish state’s ”
The Meaning of the Mittens [the intercept] – “The symbolic power of Bernie’s old pair of mittens was the work of the “us” in “not me, us.”” Naomi Klein attempts to explain the fascination with Bernies viral photo from the Biden inauguration.
The Story of the Scorched Melania Trump Sculpture in Slovenia [hyperallergic] – “This peculiar monument to the worst FLOTUS in recent memory is rather fitting.” So symbolic.
Ta-Nehisi Coates on Donald Trump’s Legacy [the atlantic] – ““The First White President,” revisited” Coates revisits his epic article from 2017. I still don’t like having to link to the atlantic though.
The American Abyss [nyt] – “A historian of fascism and political atrocity on Trump, the mob and what comes next.”
Toxic positivity is real, and this is the antidote [fastcompany] – “The phrase toxic positivity means only focusing on positive things while ignoring, suppressing, or avoiding anything that may trigger negative emotions. This invalidation of real feelings of fear, anxiety, and sadness can take a toll on mental health. ”
Laura Poitras Open Letter – “On Monday, November 30, 2020, I was fired from First Look Media, an organization I co-founded. My termination came two months after I spoke to the press about The Intercept’s failure to protect whistleblower Reality Winner and the cover-up and lack of accountability that followed, and after years of raising concerns internally about patterns of discrimination and retaliation. ”
Among the Insurrectionists at the Capitol [the new yorker] – “The Capitol was breached by Trump supporters who had been declaring, at rally after rally, that they would go to violent lengths to keep the President in power. A chronicle of an attack foretold.” See above the video he took as a form of note keeping.
Celebrating the power of ideas: a tribute to Murray Bookchin [roar magazine] – “In celebration of Murray Bookchin’s birth centenary, his daughter Debbie is joined by a number of his former friends, students and fellow travelers to honor his memory and reflect on his revolutionary legacy.”
The Radical History of Self-Care [teen vogue] – “If you go by social media, it’s easy to think self-care is simply a series of Instagram posts, candles, bubble baths, and yoga pants mainly accessible to well-off young people in expensive urban areas and the suburbs. However, the origins of today’s self-care industry are deeply embedded in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and ’70s, in underserved communities across the country.”
Global Climate Report – December 2020 | State of the Climate [ncdc.noaa.gov] – “The global land and ocean surface temperature for December 2020 was 0.78°C (1.40°F) above the 20th century average and the eighth highest departure from average for December in the 1880–2020 record. Compared to recent months, this value was the smallest monthly temperature departure during 2020 and the smallest monthly temperature departure since February 2018.” Is there a pattern emerging, I ask. (Of course there is)
US police three times as likely to use force against leftwing protesters, data finds [the guardian] – “Law enforcement responses to more than 13,000 protests show a clear disparity in responses, new statistics show”
The Hacker Who Archived Parler Explains How She Did It (and What Comes Next) [vice] – “The hacker, donk_enby, explained that she only scraped what was publicly available: “I hope that it can be used to hold people accountable and to prevent more death.”
A Public Vulva Sculpture in Brazil Protests Violence Against Women [hyperallergic] – “Juliana Notari’s “Diva,” a massive, concrete and resin sculpture built on a hillside in Pernambuco, has prompted outrage from conservative groups.”
‘I have a 1% chance of being acquitted’: Russian activist faces six years in prison for posting vagina drawings online [the art newspaper] – “Police say the body-positive images, accompanied by captions like ‘Real women have body fat and it’s normal,’ violate pornography laws”
QAnon and the Fragility of Truth [current affairs] – “How can people fervently believe in something so transparently flimsy, and how do we preserve our connection to reality in a world of informational chaos?”
The re-return of The KLF, The JAMs & The Timelords [dj food] – “Good start to the year, I’m sure you’ve all heard about this by now: Official KLF YouTube channel” The year started off with a nice surprise, I guess.
[Articles German/French]
Corona-Proteste: »Das zentrale Motiv ist Angst« [jacobin] – “Sie kommen von links und orientieren sich nach rechts. Sie glauben an die Wissenschaft, nur eben nicht an die etablierte. Zu diesem Ergebnis kam eine Studie der Uni Basel über die »Querdenker«. JACOBIN hat mit den Forschenden über ihre Einblicke in die Bewegung gesprochen.”
Eine kleine Handelsbilanz [woz] – “Schweizer Waffen für Massenmörder sowie tonnenweise Gold aus einer Gegend, in der Krieg gegen Indigene geführt wird – und wo die Palmölkonglomerate eine neue Front im Regenwald eröffnen: Ein Blick in die Handelsstatistik aus Anlass der Volksabstimmung über den Freihandelsvertrag mit Indonesien.” This article shows why in the upcoming election in so-called Switzerland we must vote no to “Freihandlesvertrag mit Indonesien”. Spread the word!
«Wir befehlen Ihnen, die sieben Bundesräte in Gefängnisse einzusperren» [republik] – “Ein Gastro-Unternehmer fordert die Nummer zwei der Armee in einem Einschreiben dazu auf, die Schweizer Regierung zu verhaften und vor ein Kriegsgericht zu stellen. Und hält in einem Keller seiner Restaurant-Kette ein Treffen ab, an dem der Systemumsturz besprochen wird. Was geht da genau vor?” I would say, boycott Tibits until it is clear that Christian Frei no longer shares their profit.
«Die Stationen sind zum Teil überbelegt» [woz] – “JedeR Zweite in der Schweiz fühlt sich schlecht, Suizidgedanken häufen sich. Auch Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrien sind voll. Dabei sind Kinder vor allem Träger der Symptome ihres Umfelds.”
Was Corona und Klima verbindet: Krisen werden gemacht – oft durch Unterlassen [tagesspiegel] – “Unglücke sind nicht immer naturgegeben, sondern oftmals provoziert von Menschen und Institutionen und deren “passiver Ungerechtigkeit”.”
[Older articles, still great]
Erich Fromm on Happy Normal People (1977)
Shy FX – Balaclava feat. MC Spyda, D Double E & Frisco (Skeptical remix)
Was von Trump bleibt ! Georg Seeßlen [getidan] – “It’s the economy, stupid! Aber das lässt sich auch umkehren: It’s the stupidity, economist!”
The Mask of Metal Face Doom [the new yorker] – “A nonconformist rapper’s second act.” By Ta-Nehisi Coates
R.I.P.
MF Doom – The Wondrous Rhymes of MF Doom [the new yorker] – “On New Year’s Eve, music fans were stunned to learn that the rapper and producer Daniel Dumile had died months earlier, on Halloween. Dumile’s career began in the late nineteen-eighties as a member of the beloved group KMD, but he was best known for his second act, in the two-thousands, when he performed from behind a metallic mask, cycling through a series of exaggerated comic-book alter egos with names such as MF Doom, King Geedorah, and Viktor Vaughn.”
[If you care to receive more regular updates, please follow my diigo (via rss), for all of my saved links, or my zettelkasten (rss), twitter for an edited choice of them]
Header Photo: Descriptive