[A Pleasurable Headache] masters of our environment
Peter Thiel’s Palantir Had Secret Plan to Crack UK’s NHS: ‘Buying Our Way In’
The 'frog slowly boiling' approach to the demolition of the NHS continues apace.
Revealed: the secret British plan to keep Italy’s communists from power
Whilst modern Italy continues it's lurch to the far right The Guardian dishes the dirt on British efforts to keep the Communist Party out of power during the 1976 election. This, of course, follows the infamous U.S Government funded 'letter writing' campaign to keep the same party out of power in the 1946 election.
The Dark Side of Frictionless Technology
One of the more recent issues of Charlie Warzel's newsletter, Galaxy Brain, looks at the frictionless aspect and ease of use of modern technology and apps. As you've no doubt guessed this isn't necessarily a good thing.
"Crawford gets a little heady here. He’s saying that frictionless experiences with technology mean that we notice less about the tools we’re using and what it is they actually do. This, he thinks, promotes a kind of self-absorption. We don’t see ourselves as being in conversation with our tools or the physical world; instead, we see ourselves as masters of our environment, with the expectation that every tool and service ought to perfectly attend to our needs. And, because we don’t know how our tools work, we can’t repair them when they break."
This digs into the many articles and links I've posted over the last few months promoting the self-repair movement. Knowing how our tools work is just as important as using them.
Deep state phobia: Narrative convergence in coronavirus conspiracism on Instagram
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565221118751
A long and detailed read, but worth it if you're into this kind of thing. Scholarly language abound but it's still worth your time. This also links in with the excellently titled Reality Is Just A Game Now found via the ever excellent NothingHere newsletter.
How a new ‘Great War of Africa’ is raging under the cover of a media blackout
Meanwhile, in Africa.
the secret ingredient to telling a good story
https://docseuss.medium.com/the-secret-ingredient-to-telling-a-good-story-31497a020de4
Another incredibly well thought out and fascinating post from Doc Burford. This time Doc is examining the process of idea to telling a story itself.
"Now, if you want to tell a boring story, just do whatever first comes to mind. Chances are, you’re pulling it from somewhere else. I had a great idea for something until I realized I’d just been inspired by a video game I was playing at that moment and what I was actually doing was teasing out the implications of a scene. This isn’t always a bad thing — I’ve speculated where a story is heading, my speculation has been wrong, but what I’ve come up with is interesting enough that it could work as a story on its own. But, overall, your first instinct for what you should or shouldn’t put in a story will likely be one that’s coming from your memory, and when that happens, you run the risk of telling the audience a story they already know. If you do that, then they’ll probably get bored, because, like the guy in that Twilight Zone episode who always won every game of chance, they’re in hell because predicting the future makes the world boring."
Director Greg Mottola Hopes You’ve Noticed There’s A New Fletch Movie Out That People Seem To Like
https://uproxx.com/movies/greg-mottola-confess-fletch-interview/
The modern state of movies makes it so we are in the absolutely bizarre situation where the sequel to a movie that people have wanted for years has flown completely under the radar and essentially gone straight to streaming. No promos, no advertising. I really hope Mottola and Hamm get to do one of these a year and work through the rest of the books.
I'm off to remember to hydrate. See you in two!