The Third Slip Issue 83: For Long, Weakened
Hey there, all you subjects of Slipperistan. Welcome to Issue 83 of our weekly effort to keep you entertained and updated with all the nice things happening around the world. We're happy to report the world has not got better this week, but hey, at least we can feel less guilty about having a laugh about it now. With this issue, we hope to reduce bigotry in the world, since 83 can be considered by Mallus to be “Hate ithri” (this is a very bad joke, and shows why the better writer among us should not run away on vacation). Let’s go. What’s the world been up to since you put the last issue of TTS down?
Sabarimalaise
There’s some temple in Kerala that has barred women from entry for years (because even being the most liberal state in the country can wait when it comes to useless traditions). Recently the Supreme Court said “bro, women can enter”. That kinda pissed off some loonies (even women!) who are now protesting outside the holy shrine, just like how they did in 1982, trying to prevent a church being set up next to a temple. Some say the said loonies were planted by the BJP, but we don’t buy that - there’s enough ingrained bigotry in society. This is why everyone should just have a toke and sit at home and listen to prog rock. That’ll take you closer to God in any case. In the same week, a rape-accused bishop got a hero’s welcome. Hmm, overall, not a good week for Kerala’s liberal outlook.
Mecca of Torture
So it’s almost certain that Saudi Arabia had one of its most vocal critics, a Saudi journalist, killed in another country. They still refuse to take state blame, arrested / dismissed some officials. Trump - who was loathe to blame Saudi given the amount of business they do together - was forced to say “bad, very bad”. Well, Riyadh might have got rid of ONE dissident, but never has their international reputation been in tatters more (esp since this has also put the spotlight on the thousands they’ve slaughtered in Yemen, leading to the biggest famine in 100 years.. This puts many tech companies - who have investment from oil-rich Saudi - in a bit of an uncomfortable spot.
Other things around India
State of Minister: Finally, #metoo has managed to dislodge a top official - MJ Akbar has resigned (but still refuses to give in, getting close to a 100 lawyers on his side). Everyone, especially men (even us TTS-reading ‘woke’ ones) should give this excellent episode of Amit Varma’s podcast a listen.
Jaanta hai mera ruling party kaun hai: “Oye, government ke baare mein kuch nahin bolneka” - University Grants Commission, to teachers.
Biker Cops From Venus: These badass women cops on bikes in Jaipur. FTW.
:( Around the world :(
Russians Rule It: Surprise, surprise, Russia is meddling in the US midterm election, says the Dept of Justice. This is like needing to hire Naresh Trehan to tell you that covering yourself in honey while walking around in a bee farm might not be the smartest idea.
Guess who’s back: Remember the Taliban? While ISIS in vogue this year, 00s kids will remember those cheerful Afghani men. This week, they made headlines by killing a top cop, ahead of elections. Basically, the exploits of their cricket team is the only happy news likely to come out of that country for a while.
That ‘Riot de Janerio’ joke won’t get old: Fake news and a Trumpian candidate in Brazil. Oh boy, we know where this is going.
What a Burma: And yes, Myanmar’s military used Facebook to fuel genocide.
Hate crimes have increased 40% in Britain, mostly against Muslims. Oh, and another country that hates Muslims? China.
There’s some weird new polio-like disease in the US (actual disease. Not nationalism / Trump).
60 people in Amritsar were killed by a train because they were too busy playing with crackers.
Ok, some happy news now
Can (ada+nabis): Canada legalised pot, and true to form, ran out of the stuff, on day 1. Black market folks aren’t too worried. Anyway, this is further proof that whenever the US screws up, you can always look north for solace - a technique you might not want to adopt in India, though.
These gay Aussie penguins are looking after an egg <3
Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) tipped $333 just to get the bill up to $666.
Term of the week
“Brexit Preppers” - British people stocking up on things fearing the worst when the country leaves the EU next March (although, that deadline might not be met)
Tech
Shutting down: RIP, Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.
Priming Amazon: And here’s how you can use Amazon’s super-friendly customer care into making lots of money by returning stuff.
Software conflict: Increasingly, workers in Big Tech are disagreeing with their companies. And not just over the office dress code policy.
Break a Clegg: Facebook needed someone to help them navigate the EU waters so they hired a former UK Deputy Prime Minister!
Business
Y Combinator revealed its top 100 startups - who, between them, have a combined valuation of over $100B, creating 28k jobs. It’s interesting to see some of these spaces: Autonomous vehicles, lot of B2B, gaming, emerging markets...
Internationally, event ticketing is besieged by scalpers - people who buy tickets rapidly and sell later at a much higher price. One of the reasons this continues to happen is because artists are loathe to increase prices to avoid coming off as greedy (even though fans might end up paying more anyway to scalpers). Finally, someone had the courage to raise prices - Taylor Swift. The result - she makes more money from ‘non sold out’ shows.
Tesla’s gonna build a big big factory in China… After they finish making… Tequila (!).
Netflix is pwning it, financially. It’s even considering lower prices in India.
LinkedOut: Cool things we read this week!
We might be looking at a future with three internets. Which one's your favourite?
Want to feel a little guilty? The best to help our planet right now is to be a little less rich. Of course, you could abstain from procreation - by far the biggest way to give the world a chance.
A beautiful article about a different way to measure wealth. Hint: It’s not by number of newsletter subscribers per capita, though that’s not a bad idea too.
Who loves Uber the most? Not you after getting rejected by 5 autos, but economists.
Say what you want about the Trump presidency, it’s given us lots of great writing. Here’s another one: How he’s always just wanted to be taken seriously, but fails.
That’s it. No long senti outro this time because the half of us that does that shizz is on a beach in Goa. To find out which one, follow us on social media: Twitter (Chuck/Tony) and Instagram (Chuck/Tony). Send us an email if you’re feeling old-fashioned. Till next week, may your food delivery get mixed up but you get something better than what you wanted (AND you get it free). Toodles, Slippers!