Good morning!
Welcome to Issue 1.3 of Digestable, your daily mouthful of real things happening in the world, minus alarmist pandemic news.
As always (crisis time means 3 days = always, right?), I’m still all ears for your feedback, or if you’re already a fan, share this email with your friends. If you’re not yet on the list, click below to sign up!
Today’s news, fermented:
Remember when the biggest news item was something else? You know, the old white men goin at it to plow through the layers of non-democracy to declare themselves winners of our ‘elections’? Feels like a really long time ago, but rumor has it these so-called elections are still going on.
Here’s the only piece of news I want to read about those shenanigans. It’s actually about Stacey Abrams, who probably descended from another universe to save us from ourselves. According to the Guardian, as vice-president to a certain Mr. B****, who would do little for the little guys, aka most Americans, the esteemed Ms. Abrams would “make the US a real democracy for the first time.” Sounds about right.
While we’re on the topic of democracy, here are two alarming examples of quite the opposite. Any power structure that seeks to be just and fair must be held accountable by some mechanisms in some ways. Two of the most common and effective mechanisms are freedom of the press and interference-free elections (/the right to hold interfering entities accountable). Mail-order yours now for three easy payments of $19.99!
Jk. Turns out these mechanisms are actually pretty hard to come by.
Example one: China’s been kicking US journalists out of their country as revenge for the US not allowing Chinese journalists to work there. I won’t get in too deep, but there’s deep disrespect of democracy going down on both sides of the ocean.
Example two: rewind your mind to that other big news item, Russian interference in US elections. Apparently the US Justice Department has decided to *drop* the case against said interferers to protect ‘sensitive information’ (which they probably should tell us anyway). This decision comes after the interferers were indicted by Robert Muller. But ok…I’m sure it won’t happen again, right?
These examples both remind us how interconnected our world is. Information, goods, humans, and some ~other~ stuff travel all over the world in ways that are relatively new. Let’s now turn to the one purely informational, semi-comforting page on the Center for Disease Control. It’s about the idea of One Health: that all humans, plants, and animals need to be healthy and cared for in order for any of us to be healthy. (Okay CDC, interesting time to start taking hints from indigenous folks, really good timing.) Anyway, it’s a nice concept to keep in mind these days…just like Medicare for All…
Fortunately for us, Colin Huggins is looking out. Also known as “the NYC piano guy,” usually sits in Washington Square Park and plays classical piano for the masses. Due to ~changed conditions~ he is now going live on social media with music for the people. (I will not go into the nature of the ~changed conditions~ as they are NSFD, Not Safe for Digesting.)
*Hot Goss*
Ask [for mess], and you shall receive.
On an on-air interview with CNN yesterday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo got into a little spat with anchor Chris Cuomo – who happens to be his little brother! The bickering started when the younger Cuomo brought up the possibility of imposing a state-wide curfew as another step to contain the spread of Covid-19. It eventually devolved into an on-air argument about who broke curfew growing up, who should call Mom, and who the favorite child in the family was. Classic.
I know there are many fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race who read this newsletter, so it brings me absolutely no joy to share this bit of mess with you. RuPaul, legendary drag queen and host of the popular reality competition show, was recently on NPR’s Fresh Air and revealed that he and his partner actually own a huge swath of land in Wyoming – and that they make money from “leasing mineral rights and selling water” to oil companies. In other words, they’re fracking. Obviously this is abhorrent and mind-boggling, but I suppose if you can’t frack yourself, how in the hell are you gonna frack somebody else – can I get an amen up in here? Now let the music play.
And now, for some region-specific ~*Hot Goss*~: Tom Brady has left the building. After months of speculation, Tom confirmed yesterday that he would be leaving the New England Patriots and joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their new Main Athlete. Look, I don’t have any smart sports commentary to insert here but I’m sure a lot of folks are torn up about this news. On top of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade being cancelled this past weekend, someone needs to go check on South Boston.
What I am torn up about though is Netflix’s decision to remove all Shrek titles from its service – and at a time when I needed the grumpy optimism of a green ogre most! But the universe always has a way of balancing itself. And mess is everywhere if you look for it. And that’s why I’m so excited to share that the Cats movie is now available for streaming on iTunes, Prime Video, FandangoNow, Google Play, and Vudu! You’re welcome.
Brought to you by the superb Latifah Azlan.
And now, more music!
The rest of this week I have the privilege of sharing songs by Mare Berger. Listen to today’s song, Even When We Forget, here.
Today’s news, raw:
Vice-president Stacey Abrams would make the US a real democracy for the first time, 3/16/20, The Guardian
Citing Security, Feds Drop Case Against Russians Linked To Election Interference, 3/17/20, NPR
China announces expulsion of U.S. Journalists, 3/17/20, Time
Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets, 3/12/20, NY Times
One Health Basics, Center for Disease Control