[a pleasurable headache] unfit for human life
The toe heals. I submitted one of the two short stories I wanted to finish by the end of the year. The second story is taking it's time to reveal itself to me.
Trust the process and carry on, I guess.
Links
Every Liberal Institution Will Support a Ceasefire Eventually, It’s Simply a Matter of How Many Palestinians Must Die First
https://www.columnblog.com/p/every-liberal-institution-will-support
Adam Johnson, co-host of the excellent podcast Citations Needed, also has a newsletter. The latest edition is linked above.
"Given that, according to The Economist, North Gaza will be “uninhabitable for years,” and Israel’s current plan is to do to most of South Gaza what it did to North Gaza, this would render the whole of Gaza more or less unfit for human life. In the event this happens, “resettlement” of Palestinians will only be “voluntary” in the most superficial sense, the geopolitical equivalent of Vito Corleone’s offer they can’t refuse. Indeed, the official plan, as reported on by The Wall Street Journal, is to herd as many Palestinians as possible into internment camps near the Egyptian border. “Some Israeli military officials acknowledge that it would be impossible to corral two million Gaza residents into al-Mawasi, which is about the size of Los Angeles' LAX airport,” The Journal reported on Nov 19. But this remains the general goal in any event."
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The Man Amazon Erased
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/man-amazon-erased
A cautionary tale about big tech, and the 'internet of things'.
"Jackson soon discovered that Amazon suspended his account because a Black delivery driver who’d come to his house the previous day had reported hearing racist remarks from his video doorbell. In a brief email sent to Jackson at 3 a.m., the company explained how it unilaterally placed all of his linked devices and services on hold as it commenced an internal investigation.
The accusations baffled Jackson. He and his family are Black. When he reviewed the doorbell’s footage, he saw that nobody was home at the time of the delivery. At a loss for what could have prompted the accusation of racism, he suspected the driver had misinterpreted the doorbell’s automated response: “Excuse me, can I help you?”
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Did the West deliberately prolong the Ukraine war?
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-russia-talks/
The answer is yes, yes they did.
"Former U.S. national security official Fiona Hill reported the two sides had reached a tentative peace deal the same month of Johnson’s surprise visit to Kyiv, while former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder , former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett , and several Turkish officials — all of whom were involved at various times in the talks — have said that NATO officials stopped or undermined negotiations."
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Nigel Farage shouldn’t be in the jungle – get him out of there!
Stewart Lee eviscerating the shit show of reality TV in this godforsaken country.
"In 2016, Brexiters such as Farage claimed Brexit would reduce NHS waiting lists, increase education funding, reduce food costs, boost housing stock, control borders, and strengthen fishing and farming. None of those things happened. And the rivers are full of unregulated post-Brexit shit too. And Farage has received £1.5m to appear on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! with Ant and Dec. Dec looks very clean, but perhaps Ant likes to swim in human excrement. I expect so."
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Meta in Myanmar, Part I: The Setup
https://erinkissane.com/meta-in-myanmar-part-i-the-setup
I'm only on the second post in this series, but so far this is a very comprehensive series by Erin Kissane on Meta's complicity in the genocidal massacre of the Rohingya in China.
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I'm off to try and get my house in order, see you in two!