This! July 2021

[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, tweets … you name it]

[Videos]

7777 Days – “The images for this video were prepared and transformed by Michael Notter” More beards!

[DE] “Wir waren auf dem Vormarsch” — 20 Jahre nach den Gipfelprotesten – “Vor 20 Jahren erhob sich eine globale Protestbewegung gegen die neoliberale Globalisierung. Nach dem Fall des Realsozialismus feierten neoliberale Ideologen den globalen Sieg. Institutionen wie die G8, EU, Weltbank und IWF sahen sich ermächtigt, eine schonungslose Privatisierungs- und Freihandelspolitik weltweit voranzutreiben.” Gotta love Tadzio.

faz.mp4 – Fuerza Area Zappatista happy music. More links on the zapatista “invasion” bellow.

[Music]

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Interior People – “The gap of death, I no longer fear.” Nice animation, music meh.

Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY (Official Video) I love this dude.

Thom Yorke feat. Radiohead – Creep (Very 2021 Rmx) This remix expresses how I feel these days.

Daniel Jea – Avance – Travaille et ferme ta guele. Work and stfu.

The Allergies – Move On Baby (Official Music Video) [youTube] – “The Allergies bring you the sound of the summer with feel-good carnival vibes on single, ‘Move On Baby’.” Stop motion animation all made from paper.

The Kiffness – Numnum Cat (International Mashup) – “Once again, a cat brings people from around the world together in music!” 😻

Barchaga a’lo kayfiyat – Cat drinking milk set to music. Lowtech greatness.

[Podcasts]

NPP233 mit Klaus Maeck [netzpolitik.org] – “Wau Holland war die Seele des Chaos Computer Clubs” Interesting dude this Maeck. And of course the movie about Wau Holland will be great.

Radio Hour with Thom Yorke # 5 – Playlist is here. Moody mix.

#128 Wieso Männer ihre Männlichkeit demontieren sollten [dissens] – “Blu Doppe und Daniel Holtermann über Kritik an Macho-Männern und Patriarchat” Technically this is from June.

[Articles English]

Agamben WTF, or How Philosophy Failed the Pandemic [verso] – “The pandemic is, potentially, a wake-up call that the new normal cannot be just the new old normal. This means a shift in how human societies —which are always planetary in reach and influence— make sense of themselves, model themselves and compose themselves. This is a project that is as philosophical as it is political. Failure is not an option.” One of the most exiting texts I have read in a long time. Picks apart Agamben in a brilliant way and offers a perspective.

Activision Blizzard Employees Are Walking Out in Protest [vice] – “This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees.” Blizzard might still change.

Western Wildfires Are Sending Carbon Offsets Up in Smoke [gizmodo] – “The offsets’ vulnerability to wildfires shows they’re a flawed climate tool, particularly as big blazes become more common.” Ha ha, yeh duh, people should fly less not use these phony carbon offset scams anyway.

Eight months of long Covid brought me to the brink [cnn] – “Yes, I’m glad to be alive too, but I want more for us. With support from our health care providers and policymakers, I want those living in the shadows of long Covid to come out of a dark winter and heal in the sun.” Very powerful, vulnerable report by a cnn journalist suffering from #LongCovid.

Stuck in the Smoke as Billionaires Blast Off | Naomi Klein [intercept] – “This, right there, is the crux of our crisis: the persistent fantasy, despite all reason and evidence, that there are no hard limits to capital’s capacity to keep turning life into profit, that there will always be a new frontier to keep the lucrative game going.” Abolish capitalism. Fast.

Abolish the Olympics [jacobin] – “The Tokyo “2020” Olympic games are just like every other Olympics: a bonanza for corporate profits, and miserable for everyone else. The Olympics can’t be reformed — it’s time to abolish them.” Olympics are just another excuse for national chauvinism. And the cause real harm in the hosting cities.

The right is winning the culture war because its opponents don’t know the rules | Nesrine Malik [the guardian] – “The right’s culture warriors have profited enormously from their opponents’ failure to understand the nature of the war and the means by which it is fought. A number of recent reports from thinktanks and pollsters that promise to defuse the culture wars by reassuring us that the actual public isn’t really so divided, may in fact deepen this misunderstanding.” I wanna scream “wake up fellow lefties” which is funny because “woke” is the right wings latest slander for us.

The Need for a New Garden City Movement | Nathan J Robinson [current affairs] – “In the early 1900s, a strange and wonderful planning fad caught on. It can still help us think about building livable places.” Garden city, where art thou?

Leave the Billionaires in Space | Paris Marx [jacobin] – “The space race playing out among billionaires like Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk has little to do with science — it’s a PR-driven spectacle designed to distract us from the disasters capitalism is causing here on Earth.” Without oxygen.

Global Climate Report – June 2021 [ncdc.noaa.gov] – “The June 2021 global surface temperature was the fifth highest for June in the 142-year record at 0.88°C (1.58°F) above the 20th century average. Only Junes of 2015 (fourth warmest), 2016 (second warmest), 2019 (warmest), and 2020 (third warmest) were warmer and had a global temperature departure above +0.90°C (+1.62°F). Nine of the 10 warmest Junes have occurred since 2010. June 1998 is the only June from the previous century among the 10 warmest Junes on record” It’s still happening.

Apple’s weather app won’t say it’s 69 degrees [the verge] – “It’s not so nice” Fucking puritans.

When Football Goes Home | Mona Eltahawy [feminist giant] – “If England gets beaten, so will she.” Football is a reactionary sport breeding toxic masculinity. I am done with it.

Exxon lobbyist confesses to his crimes [pluralistic] – “50 years ago, Exxonmobil’s scientists warned that continued use of fossil fuels would render our planet uninhabitable by humans. Exxon’s response? They buried the reports and embarked on a disinformation campaign modeled on the tobacco industry’s cancer denial.” Orly?

Everyone should decide how their digital data are used — not just tech companies [nature] – “Smartphones, sensors and consumer habits reveal much about society. Too few people have a say in how these data are created and used.” But of course.

The Zapatistas’ surreal struggle for life — and against capitalism [roarmag] – “The only way to create a “civilized,” socially acceptable society is by abolishing capitalism and creating other, mutually recognitive ways of living. The task is urgent, the windows of opportunity are closing.” Love them, just love them. This is the best thing that happened this month.

How Twitter can ruin a life: Isabel Fall’s complicated story [vox] – “Isabel Fall’s sci-fi story “I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter” drew the ire of the internet. This is what happened next.” Cancel culture, meaning people actually lose jobs or prestige following some shit storm or other, does actually mostly happen to women, poc and lgbtqi folks. Makes you think.

Everything Ben Shapiro Says Is Still Worthless | Nathan J Robinson [current affairs] – “These are just feelings disguised as facts.” Nobody cares about Ben Shapiros feelings disguising as facts.

Excalibur [itch.io] – “Welcome to the Excalibur Wiki. This fan-run encyclopedia preserves the details of an obscure science fantasy television series from the 1970s. Though much of its footage was lost, a group of dedicated fans still have strong memories of the show — as well as unique theories, occasional arguments, and lingering questions.” The series that should have existed.

[Articles German/French]

«Ich habe nicht versucht, Snowden zu sein» [republik] – “Reality Winner enthüllte, wie sich Russland in die US-Wahlen einmischen wollte. Was viele als Patriotismus feiern würden, verfolgte die amerikanische Regierung als Spionage. Die Geschichte einer ungewöhnlichen Whistleblowerin.” Nice summary of the Reality Winner Intecept debacle.

«Nichts war mehr wie vorher» [woz] – “Anna Kushkau hat sich nach den Gewalterfahrungen am G8-Gipfel in Genua aufs Land abgesetzt und sich aus der Politik zurückgezogen. Die Anarchistin Marina Cugnaschi musste für zwölf Jahre ins Gefängnis. Wie die damaligen Ereignisse das Leben zweier Aktivistinnen veränderte.” Anecdotal but the two stories do offer some insights.

Genua 2001: Aufständische Ereignisse statt «Ende der Geschichte» [ajour] – “Mitte Juli jähren sich die Ereignisse rund um den G8-Gipfel in Genua zum zwanzigsten Mal. Lia Kläber, die im Juli 2001 durch die Strassen von Genau zog, blickt zurück und damit auch nach vorne. Vieles was damals im chaotischen Handgemenge noch nicht zu erkennen war, was halb verstanden als «Globalisierung» kritisiert und bekämpft wurde, ist mittlerweile mit all seinen Konsequenzen zu begreifen. Die Einordnung eines stürmischen Moments.” Historic.

Mit Druckmaschine und Twitterstunts [woz] – “Die Zeitung der Berner Reitschule sorgt mit ihrer Medienkritik für Aufsehen. Nun will der Milliardenkonzern TX-Group das «Megafon» verklagen. Was treibt die MacherInnen an?” Steinkauz-Front forever.

Mediennetzwerk: Das «Intellectual Dark Web» lernt Deutsch [medienwoche] – “Die selbsterklärten Retter:innen des rationalen Diskurses sind in Tat und Wahrheit dessen Totengräber:innen.” Nothing new here, but Ković sums up the efforts to establish a german idw in a neat fashion.

Megafon (Auflage ca. 1000 Exemplare) vs. Tamedia (Auflage >1.3 Mio Exemplare) [megafon] – “Auf unserem Twitteraccount veröffentlichten wir vergangenen Sonntag ein Meme, das hohe Wellen schlug. Es bezog sich auf die Verwendung verschiedener Hinrichtungsmetaphern durch die Tamedia-Journalistin Michèle Binswanger. Der Medienkonzern Tamedia kündigte daraufhin eine Strafanzeige gegen uns an. Im Folgenden unsere Stellungnahme zu den Ereignissen.” Very strong piece.

Agir contre la réintoxication du monde [lundi.am] – “Au lendemain du premier confinement, nous publiions un Appel à agir contre la réintoxication du monde signé par une centaine de collectifs. La proposition était simple : ne pas laisser repartir les pans de l’économie qui nous intoxiquent quotidiennement. Nous publions cette semaine une invitation à participer à son quatrième acte, le 17 septembre.” The reintoxification of the world.

Die Reise für das Leben: WOHIN GEHEN WIR? [enlace zapatista] – “Es gibt viele Welten und ihr Reichtum wird in ihren Verschiedenheiten geboren und leuchtet darin. Ist das möglich? Das wissen wir nicht. Aber wir wissen, dass wir, um es herauszufinden, für das Leben kämpfen müssen.” This text made me cry.

[Older articles, still great]

Tricky and the making of Maxinquaye (marksaunders.com) – “’I’d previously listened to the two existing Tricky tracks that Island had given me, Aftermath and Ponderosa and I was fascinated to find out why this guy, Tricky, wanted to work with me. This was not the kind of music I’d ever worked on in the past or would particularly listen to voluntarily – but the fact that Tricky was part of the Massive Attack crew was enough of a draw to make me want to at least meet him…..if it ever happened.” If reading this text, keep the “cult of the genius” in the back of your mind. This is hilarious.