The Third Slip: Issue 186 - TRPadvisor Review
Hello, Slippers! Welcome to The Third Slip - the weekly newsletter that’s like an Excel sheet. You’re uncomfortable when you start off with it because you think it’s serious business, but you keep coming back to it and start using it for fun things like planning trips, recipes, and even crosswords. Whether you use TTS for the news or laughs, we’re glad you’re here.
This is issue 186. 186, of course, is the sum of races won by Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (91) and... um the digits of grand slams won by Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (20) on 11th October, 2020. Yes, we used Excel to add those up. Also notice how we waited till Rafa won to send out this issue? There are some things we don’t dare jinx. Afterall, people do say we lean left-handed. We’re from the south pa(w). On with the news...
A few smiles to start with
Column before the storm: Somehow, someone bungled up an Excel sheet and forgot some columns which when discovered led to sudden spikes of covid cases in the UK. This celldom happens.
Waterboarding: Baby Shark is now used as torture device in Oklahoma. Rightly so.
StayPlaytion: The PS5 India launch could be delayed because some enterprising fellow from Delhi trademarked the name
Pence sitter: While this week’s US VP debate, was more civilized than last week’s shitshow. It was sedate enough that the biggest talking point on Twitter was, well, an actual twitter - a fly landed on Pence’s head (something that has a remix, already).
Know your Nobels
The UN’s World Food Program wins Nobel Peace Prize. The organization feeds people in wartorn areas like South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The physics prize was awarded to 3 folks for their work on Black Holes, while the Chemistry one went to the team behind CRISPR gene editing. This is not a bad idea because most humans right now either want to escape into a black hole, or have the memory of 2020 edited out of their brains.
Also heartening to note - Dr. Andrea Ghez became the fourth woman to win a Physics Nobel, while Dr. Jennifer Doudna and Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier became the first all women team to share the Chemistry Nobel. Harini Kannan says it CRISPR with this illustration…
Things happening at home
Hotel Dissent: In a disappointing, but hardly surprising move (for 2020), the Supreme Court said that dissent can only be in designated areas, and that public places cannot be occupied indefinitely like in the case of Shaheen Bagh protests. Meanwhile, human rights activist Stan Swamy was arrested this week by arbitrarily labelling him a maoist. New business model - Hotel Dissent: Rooms by the hour where we can quietly dissent without inconveniencing the powers that be.
The nation now knows: So it turns out Republic TV was faking its “we’re #1” ratings numbers. This is surprising, mostly because we just assumed that most of the country watched that filth on their own and apparently, all channels indulge in faking TRP anyway because the way it’s measured is, to use marketing jargon, horseshit. 1 star TRPadvisor rating. Please rest assured that the ethical authors behind TTS will never resort to such tactics - the trust of our millions of subscribers is at stake.
Uttar Pradesh: Where they have an answer to everything. Even when the incident is so horrific that theCourt seems shocked, the UP government is doubling down on its “there was no rape” stand even as video evidence showed otherwise. Some Yogi supporters even tried to make a fake support-Hathras-victim website, intending to show it instigated riots. It copied material from BLM protests, so now we have references to black people, NYPD and San Diego... In rural UP.
The build guild: There’s a fresh surge in infrastructure investments, which adds hope to the ailing economy. Chhattisgarh and TN topped the list. Even otherwise, industry leaders say that the worst is behind us. False optimism? We’ll take it.
NGOops:There’s mounting international criticism over Amnesty’s forced departure. No two ways about it - our government’s authoritarianism, Muslim-quashing and intolerance is making global news.
Rheality TV: Rhea got bail after the stupidest saga this year. But she still had to pay a bond, no idea why. There are people asking her to sue TV channels. What did she do when she was in jail? Keeping spirits up and teaching inmates yoga. You go, girl. Shame on you, Indian media.
Name of thorns: Delhi police ”accidentally” leaks names of riot witnesses, like how you “accidentally” say “sorry, wrong chat” to your crush.
Atmanirbourse: LIC might be listed on a foreign stock exchange lol. Meanwhile, another week another investment into Reliance (this is getting ridiculous now)
May the fours be with you: “The Quad” is underway - an informal alliance between India, Australia, Japan and the USA. This is pretty much a “how do we tackle China” group.
The Virus
Gone case: In some strange good news, India’s curve is flattening. But given that there are enough anecdotes of doctors pressurized to not report new cases, or people just refusing to get tested, we’d be sceptical. And there’s no doubt that, despite Trump’s best efforts, India will claim the #1 spot for cases soon. Strangely, even as Asia’s and LatAm’s cases drop, Europe’s have spiked again, showing that till a vaccine is here, things are pretty much going to be iffy. Thankfully, AstraZeneca’s vaccine is back on track.
Dilli abhi indoor hai: Our health minister says that 1 in 5 Indians “may” be vaccinated by July 2021, providing a grim if realistic scenario. We hope your Indoors trial version has been good, because you’re gonna have to get used to it. BTW did you know JFK’s nephew is an anti-vaxxer, and leading protests in Germany?!
They don’t really care about US
Under a month for that virus to potentially leave the White House...
It’s hard to overstate how important getting someone back in the Oval Office is. Thankfully, it looks like most of America is coming to its senses, and giving Joe Biden a handy 83% chance of winning. Far from gaining him sympathy, Trump’s profligate handling of his own infection has brought him even more criticism. Especially from the military hospital’s chief physician who said his leaving the hospital to wave to supporters was madness. Yes, diehards will still vote. But as Trump moves from one misstep to the other - refusing a virtual debate, focusing on making visa laws stringent, refusing to approve a stimulus check this week, preferring to fast-track his Supreme Court nominee instead - it looks like Joe Biden, far from a perfect candidate himself, will be the new President.
Don’t Be Evil Redux: All platforms are gearing up for the US elections and taking steps. Twitter’s taking measures to make sure nobody prematurely claims to have won the election. Facebook removed all traces of conspiracy-peddling, Trump-supporting QAnon. And it’s not just the US - both Twitter and Facebook removed a lot of state-spread propaganda accounts, around the world. Tech employees, already liberal & freshly pissed by Trump’s diversity training ban, are donating in droves to Biden. Heck, even Peloton - of premium exercycles and live-streaming fitness - has to moderate extreme speech.
Snake selling oil: Leaked documents from Exxon Mobil - once America’s vanguard, and now a company desperately trying to hang on to the flailing oil economy - show that it was well aware that its expansion plans would lead to a LOT more emissions. While other oil companies are not exactly angels, they’ve at least gone on record saying they plan to reduce emissions, go green, etc. Exxon, on the other hand, has dodged the question like a social media manager when asked about metrics. Not a good look for Exxon, but in the spirit of keeping things positive, it’s another sign that the polluting incumbents are panicking.
Sun will shine again: In better news, a Greek court rules the Golden Dawn guilty of running a criminal organization. The far-right party was once a part of the mainstream.
Death metal: Azerbaijan and Armenia were perilously close to war, but now there’s a ceasefire. So enjoy this weird heavy metal track that the former’s army put up in the middle of the conflict. Not kidding.
LinkedOut
A UX designer researches about how small-town India uses the mobile phone and it’s fascinating.
The story of how a South African song went around the world, providing a moment of cheer during the pandemic.
Finally, LinkedIn is meeting the real world as discriminatory companies are being called out.
That’s all for this week. If you’d like, you can get in touch: Instagram (Chuck | Tony), Twitter (Chuck | Tony), email. And again, if you REALLY like us and can afford to, consider supporting us on UPI, Instamojo or Patreon. Until next week, may your bed sheet always stay tucked in perfectly. Bye!