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The Morning News

A song in honor of Canadian outdoor clothing company Arc'teryx seeming to have a moment—TikTok users, inspired by this guy, are wearing their jackets in the shower, apparently surprised that Gore-Tex sheds water.

Anyway, it's as good as excuse as any to share YT's song “Arc’teryx.”

Jan 20, 2022
More Headlines
An umbrella to be sold by Gucci and adidas in China—for $1,600—faces criticism for not blocking rain.
↩︎ BBC News 1h

“Whispering, cajoling, lobbying, neck massaging, beard-pulling”

A few days late on this, but here's an interesting thread from New York Times East Africa correspondent Abdi Latif Dahir on what it was like to watch Somalia's presidential election up close over the weekend.

See also: "Somalia elects new President, but terrorists hold true power"

1h
An interactive record of proposed redistricting maps—and whether they'll benefit Democrats or Republicans in the midterms.
↩︎ FiveThirtyEight 1h

People obsess over diamonds precisely because of the human cost involved. We love a diamond story that emphasises the contrast between the starry white at the top of the queen’s sceptre and the pitch-black hell from which it was pulled.

Rosa Lyster: The history of South African mines shows that diamonds are not very rare, but they are prized from a unique misery.
↩︎ The London Review of Books
2h

Imagine trying to jump six times your height, without legs. That’s what steelhead in California’s Alameda Creek must do if they want to return from the Pacific Ocean to the stream where they were born. 

Lauren Silverman: Knowing about fish ladders—and mysterious steelhead trout—can make it easier to understand human relationships.
↩︎ Human Parts
2h
Christian Cooper, the bird-watching Black man falsely accused by a Karen, gets a birding show on National Geographic.
↩︎ NPR 2h

Electronic-music pioneer Vangelis—best known for Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, or for some, this Gallo Winery commercial—has died at 79.

12h
"There are a whole lot of social value choices where there isn’t hard science." Assessing how many years we lost to Covid.
↩︎ Nature 12h

Harassment and reputational harm is core to the attack strategy. Institutions often treat reputational harm and online attacks as a personnel matter, one that unlucky employees should simply endure quietly.

The rollout of the DHS group targeting disinformation has been so disastrous because its director was targeted by disinformation.
↩︎ The Washington Post
12h
"There are just so few apartments to be had that Airbnbs make up the majority of [New York City's] available rentals."
↩︎ Curbed 16h
Depending on where you are in the world, you're feeling inflation in different ways—e.g., price hikes on sausage rolls in the UK.
↩︎ Bloomberg 16h
Albert Einstein resisted attempts to make money on his image. Today, that image earns around $12 million a year in licensing fees.
↩︎ The Guardian 2d
This op-ed is dully written but ultimately correct: long Covid needs to be discussed, including medicine's uncertainty about it.
↩︎ STAT 2d
One possible future for Covid-19: some people get reinfected many times, and a few experience symptoms for months or years.
↩︎ The New York Times 2d
Was sabotaging the Dakota Access Pipeline domestic terrorism? An activist appeals her sentence's "enhancement."
↩︎ Grist 2d

Carry your opponent's proposition beyond its natural limits; exaggerate it. The more general your opponent's statement becomes, the more objections you can find against it. 

Arthur Schopenhauer’s tactics for debate, composed sarcastically, are actually useful suggestions for Twitter arguments.
↩︎ M'N EI
2d
A. Dirk Moses: Genocide is the “crime of crimes,” but outrage is fickle. The threshold of criminality needs to be reimagined.
↩︎ Lawfare 2d
Notes from some tourist travel in Ukraine in April and May, from interrogations to underground concerts, to cats on leashes.
↩︎ Matt Lakeman 2d
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