The Third Slip: Issue 106 - A-SAT State of Affairs
Hello, Slippers! Welcome to The Third Slip - the weekly newsletter that is like the Prime Minister’s anticlimactic address to the nation - we create hype about it before you get to it, take content that already exists, repackage it in a new format, clickbait you into listening to us and take complete credit for other people’s efforts.
This is issue 106, and one would assume we would run out of things to say by this point. But, thanks to R. Ashwin we have things to say of run-out this week. Unlike Ashwin though we didn’t have to pause too long to get here, we have been bailed out by his bail out package. As they say, cometh the hour cometh the Mankad.
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Electile Dysfunction
Yay or Nyay?: The first of many numbers that’ll define this year’s election (like 15 lakhs and 56” last time): Rahul Gandhi promises ₹72,000 for the poorest 20% households. It’s called the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) scheme, and the Congress has apparently taken advice from the likes of Raghuram Rajan. Arun Jaitley swiftly used nice language and math to tell him the current government already does more than that. It’s still unclear how such families are going to be identified or how the scheme would be funded, but then we know by now that votes are won on optics over logistics.
Life’s not EC: The Election Commission has plenty on its plate. There was clever bypassing of rules to air Modi’s ASAT missile announcement (a classic case of calling a meeting when an email would have done), misuse of electoral bonds, sycophantic biopics & vote-pledging contests on Facebook. It needs to look into several other issues too - like why farmer cash transfer schemes by states have been halted, even as the central government started its own much-vaunted program doing the same thing (remember when your boss listens to your idea, ignores it, and uses it anyway claiming it to be his own? That).
Bait and Swachh: Here’s a pretty comprehensive look at how one of the Government’s most hyped programs, Swachh Bharat, has done. TL;DR: Not too good. The focus has been more on optics, which is apt, given the program’s logo.
Healthcliff: The Congress wants to focus on public health. Good idea, India’s really dangling off a cliff on that front and it’s a key concern for voters, as opposed to say, environmental issues, which nobody cares about (a good thing for the BJP who’s quite happy to dilute green norms).
Other news from India
ASAT and lie-ability: While a lot of ASAT Missile Coverage was around Modi’s choosing to deliver it to gain political mileage, it’s worth looking at what Mission Shakti was. India becomes the 4th nation in the world to have demonstrated the ability to shoot down a satellite in low orbit. And while the capability existed earlier, previous governments did not feel the need to test it. The MEA confirmed that India is not in violation of the Outer Space Treaty with this test.
Tweet of the week: This one comes from the most improved social handle of the year…
Around the World
Muellover this, liberals!: So there we have it. The Mueller report anticlimactically says Trump ain’t guilty of colluding with Russia. Or did it? That’s only what Attorney-General William Barr said and now others (including the guy who drafted the regulations) want to see the whole damn report. Trump wasn’t exactly very quiet about his ‘exoneration’, even as several of his pals were casualties along the way, and trust in the government (and other institutions) is at an all-time low. Over to Congress now to make something of this mess, even as an emboldened Trump is set to wreak havoc - starting by scrapping affordable healthcare and, er, CFLs.
Absolute May-hem: Theresa May gave MPs the ultimate sop: She will resign as PM if they can just approve the damn Brexit deal (they didn’t). At this point, Brexit feels like the “nananana” part of “Hey Jude” entering its 9th minute - when it started off, it was fun and cheery, everyone enjoying the Brit accents. Now people just want the damn thing to end and clear off all these drunk Brits. Ugh.
Speaking power to truth: This week in “we knew that but thanks for the 50-page report”- Reporters Without Borders told us China is controlling/stifling even global media to spread propaganda.
Genocide pas: Where did they kill Muslims this week? Mali. 130 dead. The hate’s everywhere.
Brunei? Bro, nahi!: Meanwhile, Brunei - a country that comes up literally only in “see how rich their Sultan is” articles, implements Shariah law - which will include death by stoning for adultery & gay sex.
Cometh the hour, comedy the man: Taking that adage of “our politicians make us laugh, our comedians make us think”, one comic is leading the polls in Ukraine. If he wins, he’ll have to deal with Putin - at least he’ll get lots of material post his political career.
Tech
Putting the shares in sharing economy: Lyft becomes the first gig economy company to go public!
Contentious decisions: Apple is going to start its own shows. But it’s not spending a lot on it and wants to keep its content family-friendly. To be fair, season-based content should come naturally to a company where every year, you’re forced to ditch the thing that came last year. Meanwhile, YouTube’s not getting into this ‘original content’ fight.
Whitewash: Facebook has finally decided to revise its stand on the freedom of speech v/s legitimacy of blatant hate debate by banning ‘white nationalist content’ on its platforms.
Sideswipe: Grindr (gay Tinder, if you will) was sold to a Chinese company in 2016 and the US Govt wants ownership to change. Because, you know, what good can come out of the Chinese government getting access to all that user data (and yes, this is China, so it can).
Putting the gore and rhythm in algorithm: Warner Music just signed a record deal with… An algorithm. Sure, musicians - your creative jobs are safe.
2010 at FB: “Hey we built a way for advertisers to target exactly who they need, how cool is that!”
2019 at FB: “We’re being sued by the US Govt because companies can explicitly exclude minorities in their ads. How screwed is that!”
Ah, algorithms, you fickle mistress.
Our Weird, Awesome World
Affair of the dark: An elderly couple was sued for playing Iron Maiden too loud. They did this only to cover up their, um, lovemaking sounds, which also received complaints. Couple goals. (Also, why did this happen in Sweden, a country whose idea of gentle music generally involves 3 guitars and a distortion pedal?)
Get the monkey off your back: A Russian bro tried to smuggle an orangutan out of Bali. Stick to hacking democracy, guys.
His and hers: There now exists the concept of ‘unimoons’ or ‘solomoons’. No, it’s not lunar. It’s when a busy newlywed couple… sigh, yes… You guessed it take separate honeymoons.
ET-set-era: A New Jersey high school musical’s production of Alien went viral after resourceful kids put together a spectacular show with a set made of recyclables!
LinkedOut - The best things we read this week
In an age where screens are democratized, human contact is a luxury good.
Meet the teenager who threw that egg at that racist Australian politician who said nasty things about Muslims after the Christchurch attack.
An interesting take on why the Mueller report outcome was a good thing.
And finally, ten things technology could solve. There’s still hope.
Wanna say hello? We’re on Instagram (Chuck | Tony), Twitter (Chuck | Tony), and good ol’ email. We’d love to hear from you. Maybe we can even have a run of terrible puns to make the week better. Let’s get you started - there is this friend who is so conscious of her body image that she is extremely scared to eat food. Basically, she has a chow-ki-dar. Until next week, may no one question you for defending your half of the crease. Bye!