[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, tweets … you name it]
[Videos]
David: A Short Film By Zach Woods – “A severely depressed man (Harper) reaches out for an emergency therapy session. He’s not the only one who needs help.”
Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss on making The Matrix Awakens with Epic Games – “We sat down with the two stars of the demo and the Matrix movies, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss, to talk about how technology is blurring the line between what’s real and virtual, what to expect from the new Matrix Resurrections movie, and a lot more.”
How The Right Manufactures Fear To Protect The Powerful – “how conservatives in every generation use the same set of arguments to try to convince the public that whatever social changes are occurring—especially if they come from egalitarian social movements–will destroy the fabric of civilization and create misery for all.”
Impfgegner – Wer profitiert von der Angst? | ARTE – “Anhand dieser Geschichte und ihrer Einordnung von verschiedenen Experten wird die aktuelle Entwicklung innerhalb der Anti-Impf-Bewegung beleuchtet. Es geht um finanzielle Mittel und wirtschaftliche Interessen, alternative Behandlungsmethoden und Spezialkliniken, Propaganda und rhetorische Mittel, die die Impfgegner einsetzen. Seit der Schweinegrippe haben politische Extreme und Verschwörungstheorien rund um das Thema Impfung zugenommen: von der Überwachung per Mikrochip bis zum “großen Neustart”, dem “Great Reset”.”
[Music]
World Music: l’année 2021 en musique et en images
BB Bean – Bianca Stratford [Audio]
Get The Fuck Off The Yintah – “A song of solidarity with Wet’suwet’en”
[Podcasts]
Not a podcast, but since Joan Didion died this seems appropriate.
[Twitter Threads]
Let’s play pretend.
Pretend we have unlimited resources to staff the hospital. Unlimited ICU beds.
We let COVID-19 take its natural course.
— #MasksInSchools Dr Noor Bari (@NjbBari3) December 20, 2021
Wir können entweder sagen, die Schuldigen für die unnötige Verlängerung der Pandemie sind:
– Bewegungsströme der Flugverkehr durch globalisierte Wirtschaft und Tourismus verbreiten das Virus auf der ganzen Welt
– Ein globales Problem auf der nationalen Ebene lösen zu suchen— ⒶnTi. 🐘 #abajodeabajo (@AntiAll3s) December 15, 2021
[Articles English]
Vaccine Apartheid Includes Dumping Expiring Vaccines on Africa [jacobin] – “The Global North is responding to vaccine inequality by dumping near-expired doses on African countries without infrastructure to disseminate them in time. Those doses end up in the trash — and it’s the fault of rich countries.”
Dozens of Israeli Artists Ask to Withdraw From Exhibition After a Political Artwork Was Removed [hyperallergic] – “Ramat Gan’s Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen called the work “racist towards ultra-orthodox Jews,” which the artist vehemently denies.”
The Roots of Inequality: An Exchange | by David Wengrow [nybooks] – “The strength of the past lies precisely there, in its unpredictability, its capacity to surprise and upset conventional wisdom. Today the information available to us, even for remote periods of the human past, reveals a kaleidoscope of social possibilities undreamed of in the philosophies of Hobbes and Rousseau, and also, it seems, in the philosophy of Appiah.” Bit yadda yadda. But academics always bicker, don’t they?
Lessons of the Covid mutual aid projects [freedom news] – “Perhaps most damningly, while the rise of mutual aid groups shamed both government and the third sector, we failed to transform this into a clearly articulated critique of the government’s handling of the pandemic, let alone a movement capable of opposing it. Instead of raising collective consciousness, Covid “mutual aid” was all too easily assimilated into the nationalist “Blitz spirit” narrative.” It was a mistake to de-politicize the mutual aid.
The Future Is Not Only Useless, It’s Expensive [gawker] – “This is how NFTs make me feel: like the future is useless but expensive, and world-altering technology is now in the hands of a culture so aesthetically and spiritually impoverished that it should maybe go back to telling stories around the cooking fire for a while, just to remember how to mean something.” NFTs are a pyramid scam.
Oxfam calls on SEC to protect investors – and the world – from Moderna’s smoke and mirrors [oxfam] – “No company, however powerful, should be able to dictate who lives and who dies, or exercise outsized influence over whether the global economy prospers or grinds to a halt. But Moderna is doing just that. Despite receiving $2.5 billion in US taxpayer money and co-inventing the mRNA vaccine with scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Moderna is now engaged in a prolonged dispute with the U.S. government over just who owns the intellectual property behind the vaccine – an invention that has made the company’s executives billions of dollars in profit. The human and economic toll is staggering. By refusing to transfer mRNA technology and know-how to manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries, Moderna is prolonging the pandemic, ignoring the death and suffering of millions worldwide, and declining to help alleviate the stranglehold that COVID-19 has placed on the global economy.” Fuck big pharma. More than ever.
No, Large-Scale Societies Don’t Need Massive Inequalities [jacobin] – “Serious consideration of the archaeological record puts to bed the myth that human history follows an evolutionary arc from simple and egalitarian to complex and hierarchical, challenging the assumption that democracy can work in small groups while scaling up requires domination.” The Graeber/Wengrow book favorably reviewed.
Caro Agamben, ora dobbiamo salvare te e la filosofia dal tuo complottismo [l’espresso] – “But the damage is further and difficult to estimate, starting from a surplus of discredit thrown on philosophy . For us Agambenians, survivors of this trauma, it will be a question of rethinking categories, concepts, terms, some – such as “state of exception” – which have now become almost grotesque. And it will be necessary to save Agamben from Agamben, the legacy of his thought derives from this. Nor can we overlook the political question, given that one of the decisive points of reference for a left that does not surrender to neoliberalism or to the version of moderate progressivism is missing in the worst way. The path will be rough.”
Schizmogenesis. | Cory Doctorow – “Spies, voting machine companies and Big Pharma are still your natural enemies.” This is such a huge part of leftist politics these days.
Capitalism Can’t End the Pandemic – by Chris Oestereich [substack] – “The disparity between what could have been and what actually was underscores the difference between the resources at a nation’s disposal and its willingness to put them to use for the common good. The American approach has prioritized vaccines while de-emphasizing non-pharmaceutical interventions like requiring masks, lockdowns, ventilating buildings, protecting workers, and other efforts to mitigate transmission. That’s not surprising: vaccines make companies money, while many other measures don’t. But while vaccination is necessary, and American vaccine rates remain too low, it can’t stop the pandemic alone.” Some interestung thoughts here, don’t agree with everything though.
Swiss museum to part with 29 works from Gurlitt trove suspected of being Nazi loot [theartnewspaper] – “Kunstmuseum Bern announces results of in-depth provenance investigation of controversial 2014 bequest” Fuck Kunstmuseum Bern.
Pussy Riot members jailed over social media posts [theartnewspaper] – “Masha Alekhina and Lucy Shteyn, who have previously served prison terms, were sentenced to 15 days following charges of “propaganda of Nazi symbolism””
Neoliberalism Renders Us Powerless — and Blames Us for It [jacobin] – “As the 1 percent internalized the sense that they alone were responsible for their success, so too was everyone else made to feel like the cause of their own failure. This formula was baked into the neoliberal philosophy from the beginning.” We are not not to blame though.
Are NFTs Any More Stupid Than Everything Else? [current affairs] – “We might wonder why anyone would want to spend money on this, but the answer is that they are not really buying a thing, they are buying social recognition. They are doing “conspicuous consumption” where one buys things to display how much money they have, or to remind themselves of how much money they have.” Do they need to be more stupid?
Artist Retrospective: Blu [streetartnews] – “Blu’s graffiti style transformed thanks to his growing use of house paint. He makes massive murals all over the world. In doing what he loves, BLU tries as much as possible, to emphasize the message he’s sending. Art is important, not recognition.” Big fan.
Global Climate Report – November 2021 [ncdc.noaa.gov] – “The global average temperature over the land and ocean surfaces for November 2021 was 0.91°C (1.64°F) above the 20th century average of 12.9°C (55.2°F), the fourth highest for November since global temperature records began in 1880. The 10 warmest Novembers have occurred since 2004. November 2021 also marks the 45th consecutive November and the 443rd consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average.” It’s still happening.
Peter Thiel’s Free Speech for Race Science Crusade at Cambridge University Revealed [byline times] – “In a special investigation, Nafeez Ahmed reveals how Palantir-linked Donald Trump lobbyists are using ‘free speech’ to normalise white nationalism on UK campuses” The rightwing network has too much money.
Linton Kwesi Johnson’s Dread Dialectics [jacobin] – “Johnson combines his critique of capitalism and state violence with a passionate belief in human agency as a motor force of historical and social transformation.” LKJ <3
The Pandemic That Capitalism Made | by umair haque [eand.co] – “It Would Cost Less to Vaccinate the World Than Big Pharma Earns in Vaccine Profits. If That Doesn’t Make Sense…That’s Because It Doesn’t” No doubt.
Russia Blocks TorProject.org and Begins Blocking of Wider Tor Network [torrentfreak] – “On the orders of Russian authorities, ISPs in Russia have blocked TorProject.org, the main domain of the privacy-focused anti-censorship tool Tor. The move comes hot on the heels of moves to block access to the wider Tor network following allegations that the service helps people to access previously blocked sites and facilitates crime, including access to the dark web. ”
France’s Éric Zemmour Is Whipping His Fans Into a Violent Frenzy [jacobin] – “Last week, far-right TV pundit Éric Zemmour announced his bid for the French presidency. His first rally this past Sunday was a spectacle of fascist politics and dark references to “civil war.”” Just how, France?
FBI document shows what data can be obtained from encrypted messaging apps [therecord] – “A recently discovered FBI training document shows that US law enforcement can gain limited access to the content of encrypted messages from secure messaging services like iMessage, Line, and WhatsApp, but not to messages sent via Signal, Telegram, Threema, Viber, WeChat, or Wickr.” Spooky.
Maurizio Cattelan: ‘Life is often tragic and comedic at the same time’ [theartnewspaper] – “we can be revolutionary even without being ideological or signing a manifesto, otherwise we’re just making propaganda.” And you’re still not a nice guy, Maurizio.
[Articles German/French]
Antonio Gramsci: »Ich hasse Neujahr« [jacobin] – “Deshalb hasse ich Neujahr. Ich möchte, dass jeder Morgen für mich ein Neujahr ist. Jeden Tag will ich mit mir selbst abrechnen, und jeden Tag mich erneuern. Keinen für die Ruhe eingeplanten Tag. Die Pausen wähle ich mir selbst, wenn ich mich betrunken fühle vom intensiven Leben und eintauchen will in die Tierhaftigkeit, um daraus neue Kraft zu schöpfen. Kein geistiger Konformismus. Ich möchte, dass jede Stunde meines Lebens neu sei, auch wenn sie sich mit den vergangenen verbindet. Kein Tag des Jubels im gezwungenen kollektiven Reim, zu teilen mit all den Fremden, die mich nicht interessieren. Weil die Großeltern unserer Großeltern usw. gejubelt haben, sollen auch wir das Bedürfnis zu jubeln verspüren. All das ist ekelerregend.” Danke Gramsci.
Rassismus in der Medizin: “Rassismus im Gesundheitswesen wird schlimmstenfalls verleugnet” [zeit online] – “Ärzte nehmen Schmerzen von Schwarzen Menschen weniger ernst – zuletzt berichtete eine Politikerin davon. Die Sozialforscherin Muna Aikins sieht darin rassistische Muster.”
Ursprünge der Impfskepsis: Eine deutsche Besonderheit [taz.de] – “In deutschsprachigen Ländern herrscht Misstrauen gegenüber der Impfung. Das ist auf die Romantik zurückzuführen – aber auch auf Politikversagen.” This is not a brave take, but at least some differentiation.
Kommt eine Frau zum Arzt [republik] – “Eine junge Frau wird plötzlich sehr krank – und hört, das sei sicher psychisch. Bis sie fast stirbt. Das hat System. Und Tradition: Die Medizin lässt Frauen oft im Stich.” Gender gap.
Von unten sieht alles ganz anders aus [jacobin magazin] – “Wer einen Begriff wie »Covidioten« erfindet, tut das im vollen Bewusstsein aller klassenpolitischen Implikationen gegen »die da unten« – und das ungeachtet der Tatsache, dass nur selten die Armen gegen die Corona-Maßnahmen demonstrieren, sondern überwiegend ökonomisch Abgesicherte, die in vielen Fällen soziale Abstiegsangst empfinden.”
Die Rekonstruktion eines fatalen Polizeieinsatzes [republik] – “In Morges erschiesst die Polizei einen Schwarzen. Danach sagt sie, die Hautfarbe habe keine Rolle gespielt. Doch die Funksprüche der Beamten erzählen eine andere Geschichte. Die Rekonstruktion eines fatalen Polizeieinsatzes.”
Coronamaßnahmen in Deutschland: Linke, bleibt autoritätsskeptisch! [taz.de] – “Die Coronabestimmungen können zum Teil nur mit härtesten Maßnahmen durchgesetzt werden. Wo bleibt der Aufschrei der politischen Linken?”
Das Urteil gegen Julian Assange ist ein Angriff auf den Journalismus [republik] – “Der «Tag der Menschenrechte» ist nun der Tag, an dem England und die USA klargemacht haben, dass bestraft wird, wer ihre Kriegsverbrechen aufdeckt, dass Pressefreiheit und Menschenrechte nur noch gelten, wenn sie die USA nicht bedrohen. Es ist der Tag, an dem offenbar wird, dass Menschenrechte auch ein Vehikel sind, um eigene politische Interessen durchzusetzen. Es ist ein dunkler Tag für den Journalismus, der mehr will, als Pressesprecherin von Regierungen zu sein.”
La honte! [lundi.am] – “On sort d’une pandémie où le pays a été porté à plus de 75 % par des femmes, les gens ont tous souffert psychologiquement, financièrement, moralement, et voilà que ce dimanche 5 décembre, un caudillo de plateau télé vient à Villepinte pour rajouter une louche de haine et de peur acide sur des plaies encore vives.”
Sneakerjagd – “Was passiert mit den Millionen Schuhen, die wir jedes Jahr aussortieren? Wir haben alte Sneaker von Prominenten verwanzt. Eine GPS-Recherche zu einem der größten Müllprobleme unserer Zeit.”
[Older articles, still great]
Bill Hicks + George Carlin: The Big Electron
23 Theses Concerning Revolt [the anarchist library] – “We have to rejoice for the certainty that even if we end up in jail, dead or overcome, a comfortable life without defeat is worth nothing compared to a life fighting for freedom, a life in love with the world, embraced by a warm network of relationships of solidarity, with the feeling both erotic and familiar to have roots in the earth, to be bigger than what one is, to be part of a collectivity of bodies within a terrible dance that can only be understood from within.”
Nanni Balestrini; »If you read this, you must no longer fear anything« – “Nanni Balestrini is simultaneously the most radically formalist poet of the Italian scene and the most explicitly engaged in a political sense. He follows a methodology of composition that may be named recombination, as he is always recombining fragments taken from the ongoing public discourse (newspapers, leaflets, advertising, street voices, politician’s speeches, scientific texts, and so on). But simultaneously he is remixing those fragments in a rhythmic wave that reverberates with passions and expectations and rage.”
R.I.P.
Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly & Robbie)
Mensi
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Header Photo: A misty morning in December