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At this point, it's probably hard to believe that many of us working on and investing in the early internet actually saw its emergence as a world positive development. We were convinced that the tools would change things for the better. The internet would open a universe of diverse ideas, and we’d no longer be separated by parks or walls or oceans. And the unbridled sharing of information would shed light on evildoers. It was about to be the worst time in history to be a despot or a genocidal maniac because the whole world would be watching. (Insert record player screeching noise here). While it's undeniably true that the internet has added plenty of positives to our lives (you're reading one right now!), the negatives have taken center stage; including the mass mis- and disinformation that make clear thinking and reasonable political discourse almost impossible and the concentration of almost unimaginable wealth among an increasingly powerful few. Joe Biden issued a warning about the role of wealth in politics in his farewell address: "I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead." (If you squinted hard enough during Biden's address, you could almost make out Elon Musk in the background measuring for new drapes.) David Remnick in The New Yorker: In his farewell address, a weary President Biden issues an essential warning.
+ Of course, much of the wealth in this emerging oligarchy is being amassed by people running big tech companies, the same ones that have helped make the products that, as Biden said, are burying Americans "under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power ... The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on factchecking. Truth is smothered by lies, told for power and for profit." (And to think most of us just came here for the cute cat videos...)
+ Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic (Gift Article) on experiencing the LA fires during our age of social media and some hopeful signs that we can move Beyond Doomscrolling. "To watch the destruction in Los Angeles through the prism of our fractured social-media ecosystem is to feel acutely disoriented. The country is burning; your friends are going on vacation; next week Donald Trump will be president; the government is setting the fires to stage a 'land grab'; a new cannabis-infused drink will help you 'crush' Dry January. Mutual-aid posts stand alongside those from climate denialists and doomers. Stay online long enough and it’s easy to get a sense that the world is simultaneously ending and somehow indifferent to that fact. It all feels ridiculous."
+ NYT (Gift Article): A Euphoric Tech Industry Is Ready to Celebrate Trump and Itself.
+ Sometimes the concentration of wealth story and the misinformation story merge into one, with a heavy dose of irony. The very oligarchy that Biden warns of (and the one that spent so feverishly to oust his party from power) did remarkably well during his tenure. Bloomberg (Gift Article): American ‘Oligarchy’ Decried by Biden Gained $1.5 Trillion in His Term. If you're sick and tired of hearing about the story of oligarchs dominating our planet, here's one about them dominating space. "Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company has blasted its first rocket into orbit in a bid to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's SpaceX."
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For Whom the Bell Scrolls
Will TikTok really be banned? For anyone with a teenager in the house, it still feels a little hard to believe that it will. (I've prepared some topics for conversation with my kids just in case.) One sign that things might not be so bleak for TikTok: "CEO Shou Zi Chew intends to attend President-elect Trump's inauguration next week and is expected to sit on the dais alongside other prominent guests" such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Of course, TikTok competes with the social platforms owned by those two inauguration guests, so exactly how this plays out is still quite unclear.
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In Fact It's a Gas (Station)
"Four lowriders, parked alongside gas pumps, gleamed in the afternoon sun in Altadena. Carne asada sizzled on a grill at a pop-up taco stand in the corner. A group of old friends sat on camping chairs and passed around a freshly rolled blunt, cracking jokes and showing each other photos on their phones. Hip-hop played on a wireless speaker. This is not what a disaster scene is supposed to look like." The hyper-political response to the LA fires has been dismaying and the social media response has been disorienting. But the real life responses have been inspiring. NYT(Gift Article): Tacos, Water and ‘Homies’: A Gas Station Becomes a Uniquely L.A. Relief Site.
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Strategic Offensive Lineman
"Skipper has a mental checklist of goals he wants to accomplish in his NFL career. He knows he's not a Pro Bowl player and likely never will be, so his goals are smaller, more reasonable. Start a game. Contribute to a team, 'like, be an NFL player,' he says." How Dan Skipper reported eligible and became a beloved Lion.
+ The Paris Review: The Tickling of the Bulls: A Rodeo at Madison Square Garden.
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Extra, Extra
The Topic of Cancer: "These trends represent a marked change for an illness that has long been considered a disease of aging, and which used to affect far more men than women." NYT (Gift Article): Cancer’s New Face: Younger and Female.
+ Price Check: "Even though the drug had a list price of about $2,700, the hospital that owned the cancer center billed Mrs. King’s insurance company $22,700. Her insurer paid $10,000, but the hospital wanted more." NYT (Gift Article) with another chapter in the ridiculous and ridiculously expensive saga of American health care: How a Company Makes Millions Off a Hospital Program Meant to Help the Poor.
+ Arresting Development: "Israel’s cabinet will vote Friday on a Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal, after earlier blaming Hamas for reneging on parts of the agreement." The negotiating and politics surrounding the ceasefire continue. Here's the latest from CNN and Times of Israel.
+ David Lynch: "David Lynch, a painter turned avant-garde filmmaker whose fame, influence and distinctively skewed worldview extended far beyond the movie screen to encompass TV, records, books, nightclubs, a line of organic coffee and his Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, has died. He was 78."
+ Heaven's Front Row: "'Career highlights? I had two,' he often joked. 'I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.'" ‘Mr. Baseball’ Bob Uecker, Brewers announcer, dies at 90. Here's one of his old Front Row commercials.
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Bottom of the News
"Kwak carries holiday ducks, Taylor Swift and Willie Nelson ducks, career-inspired ducks, and sassy 'duck you' ducks. It stocks large ducks, teensy ducks, and classic, Ernie-approved bathtub duckies, too (though, these days, most are made of plastic, not rubber)." This shop sells only toy ducks — and business is booming.