July 22, 2020
what we are watching...
empowering you with insights and information from the edge of today’s headlines
Strange but True
US China Relations: The US ordered the Chinese government to close its consulate in Houston, Texas after members of the consulate were seen burning documents outside the building. This announcement (and impromptu bonfire) came after the US charged two Chinese nationals with stealing trade secrets including hacking for vaccine research. Thirteen technology companies were targeted by the hackers and their work ranged from high-tech manufacturing, to solar engineering to pharmaceuticals and defense. We are not sure if the consulate fire/closure and the hacking charges are related, but seems a strange coincidence. (Also after watching plenty of espionage films, we’d figure that governments would have a much more exciting means of destroying evidence than setting fires in outdoor garbage cans.)
Ukranian Hostage Video: What do Joaquin Phoenix and President Zelensky have in common? Apparently an armed gunman in the Ukraine held 13 people hostage on a bus and his demand for surrender: Zelensky must endorse the 2005 film Earthlings which was narrated by Phoenix. Zelensky posted a video (and yes, this is not a deep fake), and the hostages were released unharmed. (The film is an animal rights documentary about our use of animals for food, clothing and scientific research.) We think the writers of 2020 have really gone overboard with their newest new mash-up of Speed, the Joker and Black Mirror.
#FreeBritney: Twelve years ago Britney Spears experienced several mental breakdowns after her divorce and losing custody of her two children, resulting in the notable the 2007 head shaving incident. Following her public breakdowns, she was placed under legal guardianship, and her father and attorney have controlled all of her financial and career decisions since then. Britney is currently 38 years old, worth approximately $59M and has a rather entertaining Instagram page. (Britney nonchalantly discussed burning down her home gym while demonstrating her favorite workouts.) Fans started a #FreeBritney campaign and even petitioned the White House to release the conservatorship, although Britney has stayed silent about the arrangement. Britney is expected in court this week as the conservatorship comes up for renewal and her mother wants in on the arrangement.
Technology
Twitter suspended 7,000 accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory and released a plan to limit the reach of Q’s followers. The plan includes banning accounts, stopping the recommendation of content and blocking several websites from being shared on the platform.
The Q army has been very active in swarming against high profile Twitter users who had spoken up against Trump. Chrissy Teigen was one of the victims of the coordinated harassment and trolling — she announced that she had recently blocked over 1M accounts associated with Q. Even the Wayfair child trafficking theory was linked to Q followers.
While the FBI labeled Q a domestic terrorist threat, the “cult” has moved front and center in American politics: several candidates openly support Q, the Trumps frequently repost Q memes and the NYPD union chief appeared on television sporting a Q mug.
Facebook is expected to make a similar move since several of the accounts can be linked to hate speech and outright threats of violence. It is also rumored that Facebook may put a blackout on political ads ahead of the election, but we won’t hold our breath.
On Monday, we’ll see the heads of several technology companies testify virtually in front of the US House. Although Dorsey was not invited, we are not sure if Twitter’s flex around policing its platform is related to last week’s hack or the potential for more regulations. We applaud Twitter’s move, but we hope this is only a first step.
On the brighter side: Apple joined Microsoft and Google by updating its climate pledge to become carbon neutral across its entire business by 2030. Apple will also create a recycling robot that will extract rare Earth metals from its iPhones. Apple has often come under fire for making products that are purposefully redundant: can’t fix your old iPhone, buy a new one; can’t update your laptop, buy a new one! In 2018, Apple announced that its corporate offices and retail stores were running on renewable energy, and now they have pledged to reform their entire supply chain and manufacturing process.
Sports
Most major US sports franchises are about to open, and working out their fan-less seasons in light of the pandemic. MLB has begun practice, and is expected to begin its shortened season on Thursday complete with cardboard cut outs of fans and piped in artificial crowd noise. (The Washington Nationals have asked Dr. Fauci to throw the ceremonial first pitch.)
We got some good news this week, as the NBA announced that there were ZERO positive tests for its players, who have been living in a bubble in Disney World. NBA games begin on July 30. Players have also been wearing SafeZone tags, a wearable sensor that helps with contact tracing and voices an alert when social distancing is violated (not sure how that will work on court, but get ready for a lot of extraneous noise).
The NBA has also partnered with the Yale School of Public Health to study the efficacy of a saliva-based test (much less invasive than the swab up the brain). Effectively, the NBA is acting as a test community to help the SalivaDirect test obtain FDA approval.
With all of the major league sports teams testing their players and staff, we wonder how testing processing labs are prioritizing. Supposedly, the NBA needed at least 15,000 tests just to start the season. Quest Diagnostics warned this week that it will be impossible to meet demand for testing, especially as flu season arrives. Some localities are already seeing 5-10 day waits for test results, which negates efforts to contain the virus. We hope the new relief bill from Congress actually contains some funding for testing or the FDA releases new guidelines allowing non-traditional labs to help stem the tide of tests.
Design
We’ve all seen optical illusions, usually black and white drawings that trick the brain into thinking a static drawing is moving or something is larger than it appears. Remember the dress (white and gold or black and blue)? Or MC Escher’s graphic posters that distort space and perspective. Design can not only be used to confuse us but to divert our attention.
Following the passage of the new security law in Hong Kong, protestors have been holding up blank signs or posting empty post notes to show their solidarity with the protest movement, and to keep them from getting arrested for saying something subversive. In that vein, protesters have created the sign below: up close it looks like a random assortment of circles, yet from far away it spells out “Liberate Hong Kong” in Chinese characters.
Law
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg attended Harvard Law School, there were a total of 10 women in her class and over 500 men. As you may have seen in the movie, On the Basis of Sex, women were not welcomed with open arms into the legal or academic community in the late 1950s. While RBG may be the most notable woman in her class, the stories of her female classmates are compiled in this Slate article (and podcast). As with many newly co-ed institutions, hazing was prevalent: the women were forced to use only one bathroom on campus, were not allowed to live in dorms, were assigned chaperones at important events and were even subjected to a “ladies’ day” (the women were singled out to answer all questions that day in class). While we tend to think of these women as trailblazers, at the time, they were focused on getting through class or just having fun, and in the process, they broke down many barriers.
Culture
Throughout the pandemic, and even in the before times, we’ve heard of people using online environments as a means to escape reality: become a savage dancer in Fortnite, build a new community in the Sims, create a paradise in Animal Crossing or blow up everything in the battle royale of Warzone.
Yet, one community has decided to create a Facebook group designed around an Ant Colony. Members swear fealty to The Queen and engage in simple tasks of everyday life for an ant — work, walk, eat, bite. The comments are filled with ant activity and even ant facts and research. Moderators keep out the “human” conversations and keep the drama to a minimum. So if invading picnics is your thing, join the colony.
We’ve all been there: Susan Orlean is mostly known for her literary accomplishments: staff writer at the New Yorker and award-winning author of several books including The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. But this week, Orlean took her twitter followers on an entertaining ride as she spewed a public, drunken twitter thread. The thread has even been turned into a visual essay. She moves effortlessly (and quiet drunkenly) through screeds about her cat, her husband, 2020 and her desire for sweets.
— Lauren Eve Cantor
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