nothing here but plastic-eating psycho-biddies
issue 273 - 24th November, 2024
CJW: Welcome back! The horrors don’t stop, and neither do we. (The hope doesn’t stop either. As hard as that is sometimes.)
Buttondown isn’t sending draft emails today, so apologies if I missed any issues.
Anyway, lots of interesting stuff today, as usual.
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The Team
Daniel Harvey (DCH) - Designer, writer, provocateur. Pro-guillotine tech critic. @dancharvey
Marlee Jane Ward (MJW) - is also Mia Walsch. Writer & visual artist. Hates the internet.
Corey Jae White (CJW) - author, voidwitch, girl is a gun.
Lidia Zuin (LZ) - Journalist, MA in semiotics, and PhD in Arts.
Climate Change & The Environment
Just the headlines:
Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO₂ from the air as a tree, scientists say - Karen Kaplan at LA Times (via Sentiers)
Plastic-eating insect discovered in Kenya - The Conversation
Amazon goes nuclear, investing more than $500 million to develop small module reactors - Diana Olick at CNBC
Geopolitics & Empire
CJW: ‘I couldn’t cry over my children like everyone else’: the tragedy of Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh - Nesrine Malik at The Guardian
In the morgue, Dahdouh found the bodies of his 15-year-old son, Mahmoud, his seven-year-old daughter, Sham, and his wife, Amina. Dahdouh picked up Sham and, his face twisted in grief, spoke to her. He fell to his knees next to his wife’s body and held her hand. As he moved from corpse to corpse, the arms of strangers, some of them children, reached out to steady him. It was as he knelt down by Mahmoud’s bloodied body that he let out his first cry, then uttered a phrase that would reverberate around the Arab world: “They took revenge on us through our children.”
[...]
What he did next made him into the emblem not just of the war’s toll, but of tenacity in the face of unfathomable loss. On the afternoon of 26 October, the cameras followed him as he led the funeral prayer for his family. Dahdouh’s son Yahya stood next to him, head bowed and bandaged, his hands clasped on his chest, his mother’s body wrapped in a blanket on the ground before him. Dahdouh’s voice rang out in prayer, followed by a chorus from the men lined up behind him. After the prayer, Dahdouh stroked the head of baby Adam, wrapped in a small white shroud, one last time before he was buried.
This piece is utterly heartbreaking, but I think it's important in that it shows the deep, beautiful humanity of the people who are the target of this genocide, something which the Western media often denies. And it’s so incredibly stupid that I have to point out the humanity of Palestinians, but the tools of empire want to see them utterly dehumanised so that it can continue to kill them.
DCH: Related The massacres that tore my life apart by Hala Ahmed
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DCH: The International Criminal Court Issues 'Watershed' Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, for War Crimes in Gaza by Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain at Drop Site News
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their role in Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip. In its ruling, the court explicitly rejected arguments made by Israel and the U.S. that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Israel. “The acceptance by Israel of the Court’s jurisdiction is not required, as the Court can exercise its jurisdiction on the basis of the territorial jurisdiction of Palestine,” the court said.
Bold emphasis mine. We all know the US only pays lip service to “the international rule of law” so I guess the real question is IF Bibi gets busted will the US invade the Hague during Trump’s new term since Bush 2 set the groundwork for that very possibility? Or will he follow Putin’s lead and put the ICC leadership on his own wanted list?
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DCH: The Great American Nuclear Weapons Upgrade by Ramin Skibba at Undark
In the plains of western South Dakota, about 25 miles northeast of Mount Rushmore, the Ellsworth Air Force Base is preparing to receive the first fleet of B-21 nuclear bombers, replacing Cold War-era planes. Two other bases, Dyess in Texas and Whiteman in Missouri, will soon follow. By the 2030s, a total of five bases throughout the United States will host nuke-carrying bombers for the first time since the 1990s.
Just in case you weren’t already alarmed about American missiles striking Russia from the Ukraine…
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DCH: Conditions so bad that prisoners set themselves on fire: Crisis and cover-up at Red Onion super-max by Phil Wilayto at SF BayView
“He told me simply that the racism, the horrid and inhumane conditions at the prison, were so intolerable that he and others were setting themselves on fire in desperate attempts to get transferred. These were not protests, he made clear, but acts of desperation hoping to get out of an insufferable situation.”
In case you’ve forgotten how ghastly mass incarceration in the US gets then here’s an absolute horror story out of the Red Onion supermax prison in Virginia.
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“According to Raz, Netanyahu’s priority is not maintaining Israel’s security but preventing any real chance of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the division of land, ending the occupation, or a two-state solution. Keeping the cash flowing to Hamas served this objective by ensuring the Palestinian national movement remained fractured between Hamas in Gaza and the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, thus allowing Israel to maintain its dominance over the whole of the land. Even after the devastating events of October 7, Raz warns that Netanyahu’s playbook remains unchanged.” The not-so-secret history of Netanyahu’s support for Hamas by Ghousoon Bisharat at 972mag - CJW: We shared something about this a while back, but in case you missed it before…
Trump’s unfinished business for ‘Greater Israel’ by Jonathan Adler at 972mag
Just the headlines:
As U.S. ambassador, Rev. Mike Huckabee will push for ‘end times’ in Palestine by Rev. Graylan Scott at Mondoweiss
Science & Space
“For example, black holes theoretically shouldn’t be able to consume matter at a higher rate than what’s known as an Eddington limit, which is a measure of the maximum luminosity of an object. But the universe has a way of dispensing with “shouldn’t.” Case in point: Scientists have now observed an ancient black hole named LID-568 that is devouring matter at 40 times its Eddington limit.” A Binge-Eating, Growth-Spurting, Law-Breaking Black Hole by Becky Ferreira at 404Media (DCH: more info here)
Does Space Need Environmentalists? by Nathaniel Scharping at Noema
Tech & Design
DCH: Not even Spotify is safe from AI slop by Elizabeth Lopatto at The Verge
But this whole process effectively works on the honor system, and for something like the fake Standards album, this is where the problems begin. A distributor takes you at your word that you are who you say you are, Spotify takes the distributor at their word, and boom, there’s a fake album on a real artist’s page. Most of the time when this happens, it’s an honest mistake. In the recent spate of fakes, though, it seems like artists are directly targeted.
AI scammers are cheating labels AND artists out of money and damaging artists reps in the process.
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DCH: Inside the Booming 'AI Pimping' Industry by Emanuel Maiberg, Jason Koebler at 404media
Instagram is flooded with hundreds of AI-generated influencers who are stealing videos from real models and adult content creators, giving them AI-generated faces, and monetizing their bodies with links to dating sites, Patreon, OnlyFans competitors, and various AI apps.
…and AI scammers are doing the same to sex workers too.
Clearly neither Spotify or Instagram care to solve the problem because they’re profiting from it. You can almost imagine them all saying “It’s Not My Problem!” (as always Tim Maughn sees the grift for what it is)
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As Ghana approaches its presidential election on December 7, researchers have uncovered a network of 171 bot accounts on X that use ChatGPT to write posts favorable to the incumbent political party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Phony X accounts are meddling in Ghana’s election by Caroline Haskins at Rest of World
“According to the FT, multiple media executives admitted that brands would be returning as advertisers on Twitter/X not because it’s a great place to reach people, but because they know it’s something Musk cares about and he’ll have influence with Trump. Lou Paskalis, chief executive of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory, called it a form of “political leverage” that will be helpful if the companies are seeking government contracts. Throwing a few million dollars at Twitter/X to be in the “good graces of Elon” will surely also be a good strategy to stay out of his crosshairs and those of the administration.” Advertisers are returning to Twitter/X to keep Elon Musk happy by Paris Marx (DCH: Bold emphasis mine)
Just the headlines:
Elon Musk’s X sues to block California law that aims to combat election deepfakes by Queenie Wong at The Los Angeles Times
Teens learn a new conspiracy theory every week on social media yet most schools aren’t teaching media literacy at Fast Company (DCH: 20% report seeing them every day)
The U.S. Bought Pegasus for Colombia With $11 Million in Cash. Now Colombians Are Asking Why by Luz Adriana Camargo at Drop Site News
Society & The Culture
CJW: After the pale - Josie Suzanne at Overland
To note that the Zionist entity has murdered more non-combatants than Hamas or Hezbollah — to work through the contradiction — is to miss the point. Acts of genocide make their own justification, because what they kill, by a colony’s naturalised law, has always been destined to die. It creates a prehistoric, pre-determined world in real time. It works to exclude or neutralise any conceptual opposition or sense of internal, generalised contradiction that may threaten the colony.
A really great piece on the genocide and how it relates to other decolonial struggles, explored through Disco Elysium's Pale (among other ideas). Reminiscent of some of the writings of Mattie Colquhoun, but Josie's voice is entirely her own.
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CJW: Dreaming awake - Mandy Brown
To engineer is to design or construct something. To engineer consent is to both subvert the agency necessary for consent to exist and to make plain that the person being engineered is seen as a device or a product, a thing to be manipulated or arranged. In that, engineering consent bears relation to what Ursula Franklin warned of with the proliferation of prescriptive technologies—technologies in which autonomy and judgment are suppressed in favor of following instructions—which is that such technologies pave the way for the programming of people. To use advertising—or propaganda, which is the same thing—to engineer consent is to program people to accept a message.
A brilliant piece on media and propaganda (which includes social media platforms these days, of course), and ways to think about resisting it and finding another way/place to look. That might sound a bit vague/abstract, but I don't want to tell you what you'll take away from this, as I think it will differ broadly.
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MJW: Sex Workers Are Trying to Warn Us About Project 2025 by Kim Kelly at The Nation
In the foreword to Project 2025, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts writes: 'Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.'
“The goal seems to be to cripple the legitimate companies in the adult industry by passing and enforcing burdensome, draconian laws—so that inevitably when the legitimate, legally compliant adult sites lose the majority of their traffic to noncompliant, overseas-based sites that are willing to host any content (even illegal, abusive content), then it will just add more fuel to the conservative argument that all porn is exploitative,” Dahl said. “In my view, they’re doing more to enable sexual exploitation than anybody in the modern porn industry has.”
As journalist Melissa Gira Grant wrote in The New Republic, “Project 2025 is not targeting ‘pornography’ as something that’s harmful to children per se, but rather redefining anything concerning sexuality and gender that they say is harmful to children as pornography.”
What’s planned for sex workers is a dry run for when they do it to you (I mean, look at shadowbanning), but you really need to care that it’s happening to them in the first place. Grant’s words are also particularly chilling – this loosening of definition leads nowhere good.
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DCH: ‘The Last Sacrifice’: Rupert Russell’s New Film Examining the Murder That Inspired ‘The Wicker Man’ by Paul Gallagher at Dangerous Minds
Climbing up Meon Hill, the three discovered Walton’s body. He had been brutally murdered. His trouncing hook was embedded in his neck. His blood soaked the ground. A pitchfork had been thrust through his head, puncturing eye and cheek. His trousers were undone. His shirt and jacket open. A large cross had been carved on his chest. It was later said natterjack toads were placed around his body. Walton’s death looked like a ritual sacrifice.
I mean loosely inspired but I had no idea. This is definitely going on my must watch list.
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DCH: 20 Years of Orcs, Guilds and Memes in World of Warcraft by Annie Aguiar at The New York Times
After World of Warcraft was released by Blizzard Entertainment in November 2004, millions of people paid monthly subscriptions to join guilds with their real-life friends or in hopes of making new ones. Soon it was being featured on “South Park” and in political campaigns. Then came the requisite Hollywood adaptation. The game has also spilled into unexpected spaces like cryptocurrency and epidemiology.
I’m a WoW enjoyer (despite its many flaws) and have written about it in the newsletter before. I had no idea until this article that notable piece of shit Steve Bannon got his start as a dirty fucking goldfarmer…
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“Alex Jones' media company will likely no longer be owned by Alex Jones. Free Speech Systems, the parent company of his right-wing, conspiracy-laden Infowars show was sold in a bankruptcy liquidation auction yesterday to the satirical news outlet The Onion. The amount of the winning bid has not yet been disclosed.” The Onion wins auction for Alex Jones' media company by Tovia Smith at NPR (DCH: Not an Onion headline!)
Health, Cooking, and Related
DCH: Genetic Discrimination Is Coming for Us All By Kristen V. Brown at The Atlantic
What happened to Bill, and to dozens of other people whose experiences have been documented by disease advocates and on social media, is perfectly legal. Gaps in the United States’ genetic-nondiscrimination law mean that life, long-term-care, and disability insurers can obligate their customers to disclose genetic risk factors for disease and deny them coverage (or hike prices) based on the resulting information. It doesn’t matter whether those customers found out about their mutations from a doctor-ordered test or a 23andMe kit.
Given the ongoing financial issues at 23andMe it's not hard to imagine a scenario where genetic risk profiles end up in the hands of insurance companies or scammers.
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“A case report published in Vaccines in August1 outlines how Halassy self-administered a treatment called oncolytic virotherapy (OVT) to help treat her own stage 3 cancer. She has now been cancer-free for four years.” This scientist treated her own cancer with viruses she grew in the lab by Zoe Corbyn at Nature (DCH: this is a wild read. Chemo sucks. Hopefully this helps pave the way for another treatment pathway.)
Masks Off by Jess McAllen at The Baffler
Just the headlines:
Opinion: Frontline Mpox Responders Aren’t Getting the Support They Need by Ben Smilowitz at Undark
Labour & Economics
DCH: Trump selects Elon Musk to lead government efficiency department by Philip Wen at The Guardian
Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
And of course they named it DOGE. Narcissist edgelords will never miss an opportunity to meme. One point tho: it’s not actually a department, it's a federal advisory commission. Why does that matter? Because it means they aren’t beholden to the usual rules and norms (not that those seem to matter all that much in Trumpworld) like abdicating from his CEO positions, putting cash into trusts, etc. that would potentially constrain Musk’s more egregious plans.
On the plus side they have no real power but their recommendations will be welcomed with open arms by the rest of Trump’s cronies.
Basically expect a wave of deregulation that the US hasn’t seen since Reagan. And waaaaay more subsidies and government contracts for Musk in particular but also the rest of the Silicon Valley right wing “warrior class.”
Movies + TV
LZ - The Substance
Ah yes, the movie that everyone is talking about. I finally watched it and, well, while it is worth the buzz, I can't avoid calling it The Crotch instead, for I have never in my life seen so many sequences focused on this specific part of the body in a movie – not even in an erotic way, I think, or maybe it's just me and my female heterosexual brain.
Anyhoo, I really wish to write a longer piece about this movie. It tackles so many topics like, of course, the pressure to be beautiful, never grow old, never die, eating disorders, self-hatred and self-esteem issues, narcissism, possibly even a maternity commentary, celebrity economy and media, etc etc.
There is a lot to unpack and the movie is almost 3 hours long. Maybe it didn't need to be this long, but I think the director wanted to make her point very clear and literal to the point of being gory. There are, of course, a lot of references and homages to older horror movies (is that the catch for most contemporary movies to show that they are adding up to a legacy?), but I like how architecture plays an important role in conveying the psychology of the main character. I'm talking about long corridors, an empty white bathroom with a hidden door to a secret room, window walls showing the city from above and afar (and later a huge outdoor featuring the main character), the carpet in the TV studio with a hypnotizing pattern (The Shining much?), and so on.
It's also interesting that they chose Demi Moore to play the role after her being heavily criticized for apparently botched plastic surgery. An artist who has been known for her beauty, not so sure if her talent too (though she is a really good actress, and The Substance shows it), but maybe kinda ostracized in the last couple of years?
Honestly, it takes courage to play a role like this, especially when the movie seems to be slapping your face with the message that you get what you deserve for playing this game (of fame) and choosing not to leave it. But it also shows how intoxicating success is and how it will turn you into a monster that you wouldn't recognize if you were an external viewer. Coming from someone who has a history of eating disorders and who has worked with fashion and then in media, it's totally convincing and true, and it's a fucking snowball of shit – or blood and viscera, as this movie shows.
CJW: This is a fantastic ageing-feminist take on The Substance and how it relates to hagsploitation films past: What Ever Happened to Monstro Elisasue?: In defense of Psycho-biddies in The Substance and beyond. - Johanna Isaacson at Blind Field Journal
The Memes
