[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, tweets … you name it]
[Videos]
Wie schlimm ist Long Covid? – Surprisingly well-done.
My LSD-Induced Love Affair With a Pigeon – Gotta love this type of hippie.
Polar bears on Kolyuchin Island, Chukotka, Russia
Tallest statue size comparison – With sound even better.
[Music]
The Smile – The Smoke (16mm Film) – Cool jazzy vibe.
Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” RAW Track Reaction – Production Breakdown [yotube] – Pretty amazing.
Telefís ‘Falun Gong Dancer’ with Jah Wobble – Dub meets geek.
pussy riot – punish – Warning: age restricted suddenly, hate that, can’t embed.
HISTORY OF METAL – They forgot TOOL, but fine.
Burial – Antidawn EP [bandcamp: shortcode must include 'track', 'album', or 'video' param]
[Podcasts]
The Coming Storm [bbc] – “A year on from the Capitol Insurrection in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, Gabriel Gatehouse journeys into the dark undergrowth of modern America. He’s looking for the origins of the story that drove the crowds to storm the heart of US democracy. From conspiracy-soaked barrooms in 1990s Arkansas, via spies in hotel rooms in the shadow of the Kremlin, to anarchic chatrooms on the early internet, this is a search for the answer to one big question: did this just happen, or is somebody trying to break reality?” I think Gabriel fancies himself to be a bit like Adam Curtis, but it’s a well done series anyway.
Ballaballa-Balkan Episode 55: Die Đoković-Passion – “Da schafft es mal ein Serbe in einer Sportart der Beste der Welt zu sein und dann muss er es sich gleich wieder versauen, weil er sich nicht impfen lassen will. Ihr ahnt es bereits: Es geht um Novak Đoković. Die Weigerung Australiens, ihn einreisen zu lassen, führte zu nationalistischen Wallungen in Serbien, Präsident und Premierministerin mischten sich ein und die Boulevardmedien vermuten eine große Verschwörung gegen das serbische Volk. Ganz vorne dabei ist auch Noles Vater, der seinen Sohn mit Jesus verglich und in ihm nun den Führer der freien Welt sieht.” The Novax Djocovid story, in German, but very well researched. Turns out he is not only anti-vaxxer, but also weirdly esoteric, strongly nationalist and does not shy away from meeting and posting for photos with war criminals.
[Twitter Threads]
Naturally, police unions (which are not actually unions) are fighting tooth-and-nail against vaccine and mask requirements for cops.https://t.co/LkEOcE2E1i
(You've heard of "suicide by cop?" This is "suicide by cop union.") 5/
— Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) January 27, 2022
at best welcoming COVID endemicity is a neoliberal apology for the failure of most gov's ability to properly handle COVID-19 for the past two years. At its worst this view is a neodarwinian fatalism. We need to stand against both. This history matters.
— Jacob Steere-Williams (@steerewilliams) January 24, 2022
1/🧵 BEWARE: Mild” COVID can cause #LongCOVID‼️@Nature study of N=147 (31 w LongCOVID) found Covid infection exerts unique & prolonged effects on our innate & adaptive immune system over 8 months later.
This may drive Long Covid.
https://t.co/viBKTPljdt pic.twitter.com/hmC0cvBJ5O— WesElyMD (@WesElyMD) January 19, 2022
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) January 20, 2022
Let’s review: even for children and vaccinated people, a “mild” case of COVID causes symptoms that point to long-term autoimmune issues, potentially causing our own body to attack our brains, hearts, and lungs.
Scared? Good.
Now we’re ready to get to work.
(50/🧵)— Ian Ricksecker (@IanRicksecker) January 5, 2022
[The Must Reads This Month]
Why Covid-19 will never become endemic [the saturday paper] – “There is a massive vaccine and drug development effort, so it is almost certain we will have better vaccine options, including ones that are variant-proof. But what the past month has shown us is we cannot live with unmitigated Covid-19. Vaccinations will not be enough. We need a ventilation and vaccine-plus strategy to avoid the disruptive epidemic cycle, to protect health and the economy, and to regain a semblance of the life we all want.” Endemicity is just a cheap excuse to cover up the governments failures.
[Pandemic Roundup by Violet Blue]
Evolution of Denial. #SwissCovidFail pic.twitter.com/u3pXCxQGyd
— franziska (@fr3nzin3) January 26, 2022
Pandemic Roundup: January 27, 2022
Pandemic Roundup: January 20, 2022
Pandemic Roundup: January 13, 2022
Pandemic Roundup: January 6, 2022
[Articles English]
German-speaking Covid denialists seek to build paradise in Paraguay [the guardian] – “A group of German, Austrian and Swiss immigrants has implanted an ideologically driven settlement in one of the country’s poorest regions” The funniest part is, that some of the right wing esoteric nutcases now can’t get into the country without vaccinations.
Neil Young Pulling Music From Spotify Over Joe Rogan’s Vaccine Misinformation [stereogum] – “In a open letter to his management and record label, which has since been taken down, Neil Young has asked that his music be promptly removed from Spotify, citing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on the platform. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” he wrote. “Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”” Here’s a nice how to get off spotify guide.
Hours Before King of Spain’s Visit, Ponce de León Statue Toppled in Puerto Rico [hyperallergic] – “A group called the Boriken Libertarian Forces toppled the monument hours before King Felipe VI of Spain’s visit.” A well timed toppling.
Cryptocurrency Is a Giant Ponzi Scheme [jacobin] – “Cryptocurrency is not merely a bad investment or speculative bubble. It’s worse than that: it’s a full-on fraud.” The anarcho-capitalist wet dream is just capitalism in a new disguise.
Joe Rogan Is Mainstreaming Right-Wing Misinformation [thedailybeast] – “And when the comedian and MMA announcer gets called out for the lies and bigotry promoted on his podcast, “he has a very cunning way of avoiding accountability,” Paterson continues: “He says that he’s a moron, and that you shouldn’t trust the things he says.”” Joe Rogan king of doubt merchants.
Why Anti-Vaxxers, QAnon Influencers and White Nationalists are Flocking to Substack [isd] – “It should be concerning to Substack that their platform appears to be gaining a reputation as a safe haven for those banned from other platforms. For writers and journalists, reputation is crucial. If Substack becomes known as a platform for anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and the far-right, it will be difficult to attract the kind of credible, high profile writers which Substack has been courting.” I feel terrible for the writers who moved away from patreon to join substack.
Major Record Labels Sue Youtube-dl’s Hosting Provider [torrentfreak] – “As part of their growing battle against popular open source software tool youtube-dl, three major music labels are now suing Uberspace, the company that currently hosts the official youtube-dl homepage. According to plaintiffs Sony, Universal and Warner, youtube-dl circumvents YouTube’s “rolling cipher” technology, something a German court found to be illegal in 2017.” Sod off.
Banana Craze – “Banana Craze brings together almost 100 pieces of contemporary Latin American artists in which the banana is the main feature.” Banana art.
Ancient Peruvians partied hard, spiked their beer with hallucinogens to win friends [ars technica] – “If you lived in the Central Andes circa 850 CE, you definitely wanted to party with the Wari.” The times we live in are fucked up.
Israeli Museum Suspended Operations After 47 Artists Ask to Remove Work [hyperallergic] – “David Reeb’s painting was removed due to political pressure from the local mayor, prompting backlash by other artists.” The art world taking a stand.
Children and adolescents deserve a better future [the lancet] – “Young people have unique perspectives that need to be firmly embedded into decision making processes and international discourse on issues such as the climate emergency, planetary health, gender equality, and racial injustice.” Only in an absurd society, old people who will die soonest, decide.
The Making Of A Moral Panic, Courtesy Of The NY Times [techdirt] – “It would be great if we saw politicians respond to this by focusing on the underlying problem — but why do that when you can just randomly try to blame everyone’s favorite bogeyman, “big tech.”” This concerns the manufactured moral panic by the NYT regarding certain forums where people exchange information on suicide methods.
Our ancestors worked less and had better lives. What are we doing wrong? [opendemocracy] – “The less ‘bullshit’ your job is, the more likely you are to be paid poorly and treated poorly at work” We are doing everything wrong, this is not a life worth living any longer.
Édouard Louis: Why Is Individual Responsibility Only for the Poor? [jacobin] – “French author Édouard Louis is famous for his works portraying the daily humiliations of working-class life. In an interview, he explains how our rulers avoid responsibility for their decisions — while blaming the rest of us for how we cope with the consequences.” The neoliberal blame shifting maneuver.
Happy Public Domain Day 2022! [the public domain review] – “On the chime of midnight last night, as many of us welcomed in — by booze-fuelled countdown or bliss of sleep — the start of a new year, the public domain had a special moment too, welcoming in many thousands more works into its ever-growing expanse, including Winnie The Pooh, poems by Dorothy Parker, and Franz Kafka’s The Castle.” Remix away.
An exhibition about labor: can we still want it all? [wmmna] – “Back in 1971, Nanni Balestrini wrote about the struggles of the Italian working class and the conflicts that took place in the FIAT car factory in Turin. The title of his book was Vogliamo tutto (We Want Everything). 50 years later, a group exhibition is taking its cue from the novel and invites the audience to reflect on the remains of our industrial past and on the metamorphosis of working conditions that emerged with the widespread adoption of digital technology.” An exhibit I would have loved to have visited.
[Articles German/French]
Die Deutungsschlacht hat erst begonnen [zeit] – “Die Diskurslinien der Pandemie verwischen mit Omikron. Nun wird sichtbar, welche Diskussionskultur bleiben wird. Neun Thesen zur Zukunft der Debatte in sozialen Medien”
Die Generation Schneeflocke ist nicht verweichlicht – sondern einfach schlauer [spiegel] – “Die Tatsache, dass die Welt tatsächlich auf gleich zwei Katastrophen zusteuert, die all diese Kinder, Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen ausnahmslos persönlich betreffen werden, kommt in der Welt der Personal- und Unternehmensberater augenscheinlich weiterhin einfach nicht vor.”
Die Mutationen des Neoliberalismus [jacobin magazin] – “Ohne konkrete Orientierung führen die Beiträge zur vermeintlichen Überwindung des Neoliberalismus mitunter zur Entwicklung neuer Varianten wie der des Dritten Weges der neuen Sozialdemokratie. Coronaviren und Neoliberalismus geraten am Ende nicht nur in Widerspruch, sondern haben einiges gemeinsam: Sie mutieren ständig und lassen sich nicht in einem Land alleine besiegen.” Neoliberalism, like the covid-virus, might just mutate and come back as a different variant.
David Wengrow: «Unsere Standardversion der Geschichte ist falsch» [nzz] – “David Wengrow hat zusammen mit dem Anthropologen David Graeber ein Buch geschrieben. Es zeigt: Die Geschichte der Menschheit verlief ganz anders, als wir gemeint haben. Freiheit wurde immer wieder neu erfunden.” The book was now published in German, for those who can’t read the original, which is always better. Just is.
Raus aus dem Vampirschloss [jacobin magazin] – “Mark Fishers hellsichtiger Essay über den toxischen Umgang unter Linken.” RIP.
Sibylle Berg schreibt an alle Social Worker [srf] – “Und nun – ist in den letzten zwei Jahren das Leben vieler, die es vorher schon nicht leicht hatten, noch mühsamer geworden. Ich wünsche mir, dass unser Land, eines der Reichsten, es allen Menschen, die hier leben, ermöglicht, es in Würde zu tun. Ohne Angst vor der Kälte, dem Hunger, der Einsamkeit.” Ja.
[Older articles, still great]
United States of Conspiracy [pbs] – An updated version of this documentary was just released.
R.I.P.
Thích Nhất Hạnh – “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
Collarwali
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Header Photo: I was forced to make another rude snow man flipping off swiss politicians handling of the covid-pandemic