The Third Slip: Issue 187 - Can’t put the sh in ishq
Hello, Slippers! Welcome to The Third Slip - the weekly newsletter that’s like a progressive jewellery ad. It frequently contradicts itself but hopes to point the compass towards happy things like empathy and love, aspires to achieve the right balance but lean more like 916/1000 to one side, and can exist only because not too many people who follow the mainstream narrative of hate have seen it.
This is issue 187. 187, of course, is a numerological anagram of 916 because both of them add up to the same sum. Which now means that this will rename ourselves The Seventh Slip, just so that our luck changes. Kind of like how the Delhi Capitals should transfer Ajinkya Rahane for Reverse Jinx purposes...
Speaking of transfers…
We’re moved: Yes, yes, by your kindness and love and all that, but also …. We’re migrating from TinyLetter to a much more up to date platform. Nothing changes for you, but we will carry over our subscription list onto the new platform as well. So don’t freak out if you suddenly see a fashionable-haircut-at-salon version of TTS in your inbox next week. On with the news…
India
Cannot ban ishq: The stupid saga in India continues with Tanishq having to pull out an ad this week which showed an interfaith couple living like normal people. What is the logic? Don’t ask us. We don’t know. Unless, “Ekatvam” can be the answer to the cryptic clue “Make a TV fiasco (7)” or something. Bah. Can we reset to “love all”, please?
Illustration by Harini Kannan
Ban-glad-desh v Bangladesh: According to the IMF’s estimation, India’s GDP is set to contract by 10% in 2020. This combined with the strong GDP growth in Bangladesh over the years means that our “poor” neighbour will now have a higher GDP per capita than India. Don’t worry, we’re checking if we can ban the World Economic Outlook in India.
BARCing up the wrong TRP: BARC has suddenly discovered its moral conscience like the guy sitting in cahoots with the banker in Monopoly who has suddenly been found out and has suspended the TRP rating system for 3 months. This re: public revelations about TRP rigging by Republic et al.
Travel or Salesman problem: There is now a new scheme for government employees to avail LTA without travelling - by shopping for 3x the value before March 31, 2021. But it has more ifs and buts involved than scenarios that will allow CSK to qualify for the playoffs this season. Fun puzzle to solve if you’ve nothing better to do in 2020.
Forever a loan: Meanwhile, the centre has changed its stance on the GST payout and is now going to take out a loan of 1.1 lakh crore on behalf of the states to pay out the GST shortfall. Phew.
Koshiyari’s got no hoshiyari: The governor of Maharashtra sent a drunk text letter to the CM accusing him of being secular (the horror!) for not opening up religious places of worship during the pandemic. It was so bad that even Amit Shah had to ask the governor to calm down bro, while Shiv Sena turned out to be defenders of the constitution. Wild!
With great power…: Speaking of power struggles and current affairs, Mumbai faced a half day power outage this week and honestly you guys don’t know how we survived. The main streaming channels turned so slow that it became mainstream news this week. Oh and apparently some flood has been going in Hyderabad and has claimed over 50 lives it seems.
Across the World
KiWictory: Jacinda Ardern won by a landslide to secure her second term in NZ. Clearly, she has many ardernt fans like us, but it seems that it’s her superb handling of the pandemic that’s won her the mandate. Great stuff. It’s 2020 after all, people are like Jacinda hoon yaar, kaafi hai!
No headline: And honestly we don’t mean that as a grotesque pun. In France, a well-liked professor has been beheaded by an Islamist extremist after he showed some pictures of the prophet in class.
Darwin a blank: There’s nothing funny about death, but sometimes you have to catch yourself from cracking a smile at the dumb things people are capable of. Trump’s biggest megafan from India, Bussa Krishna who built and worshipped a Trump statue, died after he starved himself when Trump caught the virus. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Taking the “co” out of Covid: Meanwhile, the virus itself is coming back in waves with cases growing rapidly around the world - Europe experiencing a second wave, and even weird restrictions like an indoor sex ban in the UK. No, we don’t know if they’re allowed to do it outside. Oh, and it turns out Remdesivir is basically useless.
Un-becoming: In an unimaginable turn of events, Kim Jong Un got senti, apologized for not containing virus, or lifting the standards of living of North Koreans. 2020. We’ve seen everything. Well, almost. We can’t expect our Dear Leader to have any amount of shame anyway.
The Trump Dump: Trump/Biden held parallel town halls, in the absence of a debate. We’ll leave you to figure out how they went (looks like Biden did better). Meanwhile, Republicans are trying tactics that can best be described as BJPesque. And Anthony Fauci criticises Donald Trump for using his words out of context even as Trump’s diplomacy by tweet continues to wreck Afghanistan. Oh don’t look now, there’s a fresh “emails” controversy a la 2016.
Social Median: Where should social media channels draw the line when it comes to dangerous speech? Well, the answer keeps changing but finally Facebook is making some moves like banning anti-vaccination ads. This after Facebook and Twitter cracked down on QAnon and their bizarre conspiracy theories, and they were also followed by YouTube this week.
Yes, bell prize!: The Nobel Prize committee couldn’t reach Paul Milgrom to tell him he’d won, so his co-winner and neighbour Robert Wilson let him know in the middle of the night by … ringing his doorbell. Such a cute moment.
LinkedOut
After years of pushing “going viral”, tech platforms are ‘slowing down’
A Woman-run gym in Kandahar, formerly a Taliban stronghold?!
On India’s own QAnon ecosystem with conspiracy theories around Sushant Singh Rajput’s death
And finally, the IPL has given some much needed relief, but how do you create a bio-bubble for such a tournament?
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 no one ban your love outdoors, or indoors. Bye!