My co-worker Cindy here in NYC shared an interesting link with me just yesterday about text speech, or abbrevs as you may call them. Abbrevs are common and often obnoxious little terms like the heretofore ubiquitous LOL (from the Verge). I'm proud to say I've never been a fan of "LOL," even at the height of its popularity I stuck with the more generic "haha" to express humor online (or fill space during awkward pauses).
I'm happy to see that LOL is falling by the wayside, but the war between words and emoticons continues, and as long as twitter forces us to limit convos you'll keep getting messages like these: PLS send opt'nform2 ur frnds. TY signing ^ 4 my digest. Don't b a h8r!
Just typing that made me like myself less...as always, happy Wednesday and happy reading!!
This Day in History
2000 – The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sinks in the Bering Sea. All 118 crew onboard died. It is still unclear what caused the Kursk to sink, so I'll just blame it on the Russian navy's track record which is blemished back to at least the Russo-Japanese war. Sad news for the 118 crew who lost their life, but since this incident happened in my lifetime, I actually recall it quite well, and Russia turned down international rescue assistance on multiple occasions. Also, the Kursk was three times as large as the biggest US Subs, which seems very fittingly Russian. Perhaps it's hard to keep a vessel that size in good repair?
Almost, but not quite, this Day in History
As you may know this month marks the 70th anniversary of VJ Day and the end of WWII in the Pacific. This, of course, is the only time in history that humans have used atomic weaponry on one another, undoubtedly something that still concerns us today. But rather than explore the moral consequences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I thought I'd share a link about Japan's more recent nuclear issues stemming from the 2011 tsunami that obliterated the reactor at Fukushima. Nuclear power can be dangerous when used for peaceful purposes too (from Weather.com). This is a stark reminder of what we are capable of doing to each other and the planet as well as what the planet is capable of doing to us.
We can and will work towards and hope for a world in which we do not inflict this level of annihilation on one another, but as this rec from Joe in NYC reminds us, Mother Nature can unleash her powers on us at any time, and as we know, turn our own creations against us (from the New Yorker).
All aboard the #hashtagexpress
The internet is so awesome. Seriously, what can't I do or find online? One thing I've found an increasing amount of lately is #outrage. The internet is teeming with it. Doesn't matter what your politics are, I guarantee you there is someone out there #pissedoff about the same thing you are. Most recently that thing was #Cecil the Lion, apparently a proud symbol of Zimbabwe...unless you're Zimbabwean (from Medium)...no really, unless you're Zimbabwean (from the NYTimes).
Now don't get me wrong, Cecil's murder (and yes, I'm comfortable calling it a murder) is pretty outrageous. To think a few guys waltzed into a protected hunting preserve and lured its most majestic creature out of safety to kill him is messed up indeed. But honestly, raise your hand if you had ever heard the name Cecil the Lion before this happened?
My problem with #hashtivists is that they are generally just armchair quarterbacks intent on taking the moral high ground without taking real action. Modern communications technology has given us the power to spotlight important issues. It is harder to hide the ugly truth, and this is a good thing. But just highlighting it isn't enough. The world has a lot of problems, and the trend seems to be calling them out one at a time as though you are a #causedujour crusader.
The problem with this morally righteous internet activism isn't the spotlight it casts on important issues, it's the lack of follow through. Tweeting about Cecil takes about 90 seconds of my life. Donating to the World Wildlife Fund or volunteering at an animal shelter is a different story. Many of the #onlinecrusaders have mastered the art of expressing moral indignation, but whatever happened to the Kony 2012 campaign or the poor Nigerian girls who were kidnapped? If, as the saying goes, we ought to put our money where our mouth is, the up-to-date expression would be #putyouractionswhereyourhashtagis.
In The Spirit of Doing
Perhaps - and hopefully - men and women like these civil rights lawyers will one day replace Papa Mao as the founders of modern China (from the NYTimes). In case you're not in on the big, dirty it's-not-a-secret, China doesn't do so well with free speech and expression. The only causes the Chinese #hastivists are tweeting about are the ones championed by their government. Many people disagree with this censorship, but in historical fashion the government doesn't play nice with dissenters. Good for these lawyers for taking a legal stand, something that's hard to do in a country where legality can be arbitrary. Whether China's emergence on the international stage is a good or bad thing will depend on how its government behaves, and anyone who is pushing for more freedom and transparency has my #support.
Hail to the...
What do you call Kim Jong-un anyhow? Not the victor, not the chief, not even the king although he is one. Hail to the...whatever, chief of clowns. If it weren't for the fact that they possess the ability to kill millions of people (those damn nukes again), North Korea would be one of the world's funniest countries, if not, sadly, also one of its most backwards. I want to have a beer with the guy who runs North Korea's PR. Does he know how outrageous he is to the rest of the world? Does he care? I want to know these things.
North Korea's latest farcical move is fortunately not an aggressive one. They're adjusting the clocks and creating a new time zone to shake off the legacy of Japanese rule that ended 70 years ago (from the NY Post). Given my opinions on symbolism in our own country, I'm not going to dismiss this outright, but oh never mind, yes I am.
What's it like being Kim Jong-un? He just sits around all day finding ways to stir up shit and poke beehives. He doesn't have an economy to oversee or social unrest (that gets bottled up in the gulags pretty quickly), so he just hangs out and does things like this. Many North Koreans are essentially feudal peasants, still living in one of the few places on Earth immune to #hashtivism, and this guy spends who knows how much of his country's resources launching an attack on Sony. Now North Korea has its own time zone. Take that, Japan...wait, why are you yawning!? Don't you care!? HEY, Japan, pay attention to ME!!!! LOOK AT ME!
Bouncing Bailey
Hello, Bailey! Perhaps Bailey looks familiar; you'll learn why in a moment, but first a bit on her background and unique talents. Bailey is an athlete. She's a superstar leaper and sprinter, and she can track down and retrieve a ball at lightning speed, though she often refuses to return it. Living with her humans Steve and Judy in MS, Bailey has a lot of space to exercise her talents.
Her athletic ability gained her the interest of talent scouts, and she briefly pursued a career as a Hollywood stunt double. Most famously, Bailey was the back up for Ed, the "confused" hyena from the Lion King. Bailey is seen here giving her best Ed impression, "huh, food?"
Thanks Steve and Judy for sharing Bailey!
Stay Cool!
Find an AC, find a pool, find a nice, cold beverage. It's hot, and you deserve a break, surely!
