Reading archive 2025-01-03

Black MAGA ends 2024 among the year's biggest losers: Despite efforts to curry favor with Trump this year, Black MAGA figures were snubbed or dropped altogether - "The new critique of politicians of color like Donalds, Scott and Robinson should be, Smith argued, 'are these people performing like minstrels?' Or 'are these people actually political negotiators who are putting themselves at the table of power at whatever means necessary in order to deliver some results, some critical results, to Black America?'"

Trump Voters Are in for a Rude Awakening: He sold them countless, often conflicting fantasies. In 2025, he’ll face political reality.

In blow to Democrats, federal appeals court strikes down net neutrality: The Biden administration’s FCC had considered its reinstatement of the rules on internet service providers a signature accomplishment. - "Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior counsel at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said Title II authority would allow the FCC to revoke authorizations of certain foreign-owned internet service providers deemed national security risks; to mandate cybersecurity standards for broadband providers; to prohibit interconnection between broadband providers and data centers controlled by non-U.S. owners where a national security threat is found; and to better address outage reporting."

The countries of Southeast Asia work together to quash dissent: The countries of Southeast Asia are helping each other intimidate and extradite exiled government critics, according to a Post analysis of cases in the region.

Memo to Musk: Overhauling government isn’t rocket science. It’s harder.: The Elon Musk-headed ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ offers two fibs in four words. [ed. note: the whole thing is gold]

How an antacid for the ocean could cool the Earth: A new technology promises to remove carbon from the atmosphere and prevent ocean acidification.

Trayon White, facing bribery charge, apologizes to D.C. as he is sworn in: Leaving the stage after the ceremony ended, White did not respond to reporters who asked him to be specific about what he was apologizing for.

Brazil eliminated daylight saving time. It’s having second thoughts.: Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, promised a “permanent” end to clock confusion. Climate change could scupper that plan.

Who is Tommy Robinson, and why does Elon Musk want him freed?: Elon Musk’s interventions in European politics continued this week with his calls for the release of jailed British far-right extremist Tommy Robinson.

One Kind of American Dream: The Year in Hawk Tuah and Crypto Memecoin: Haliey Welch helped define the year in culture, for better or worse. But it remains to be seen what the future holds for her—and celebrity cryptocurrency ventures in general—now that she’s embroiled in a memecoin scandal.

The Hawk Tuah Memecoin Rug Pull Is The Apotheosis Of Bag Culture - "The structure of the Haliey Welch Media Ouroboros is typical of the large-scale economics of bleeding-edge social media, and I'd argue that she could only have successfully pivoted into a position where she has a lot of money and a chance at permanent fame in 2024 because of A) the rapid decay of traditional media (and even new media, thanks to Elon Musk buying and hollowing out Twitter), and B) the relatively modern phenomenon of the wide acceptance and praise of bag-chasing nihilism."

Hawk Tuah and the Zynternet: Plus, for some reason, some thoughts about the debate - "Over the last ten years or so, a broad community of fratty, horndog, boorishly provocative 20- and sometimes (embarrassingly) 30-somethings--mostly but by no means entirely male--has emerged to form a newly prominent online subculture. This network is adjacent to the “sports internet” of 40something dads and the “hustle internet” of Miami crypto bullshit and the “reactionary internet” of trad influencers, but is its own distinct community with its own distinct cultural referents--college sports, gambling, light domestic beers, Zyn nicotine pouches--and influential personalities and media outlets, among them Dave Portnoy, Pat McAfee, Antonio Brown, and Call Her Daddy, in addition to dozens of minor podcasters and hey-fellow-kids content creators who nearly all work for sports-betting concerns."