All headlines and links are true. We sprinkle in some opinion just for decoration, as a treat.
World
The Belarus Thing: Okay, so a metric shit ton of Twitter in the past 48 hours has wanted to compare what’s going on right now with the fact that ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov never flew over Russia (the Soviet Union at the time) for this very reason, and like, wasn’t that the plot of the movie, White Nights… but nevertheless. The Western world is strongly condemning Belarus and its leader, President Lukashenko (Twitter calls him Europe’s last dictator, but, oh, my we disagree. See: Orbàn, Erdogan, Putin) after a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania was brought down in Minsk, Belarus just for the express purpose of arresting a pair of (dissident) journalists. It is thought that this extraordinary action was done with the approval of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The two young people (who have been living in Lithuania) are now being held in KGB pre-trial facilities. Their crimes “against Belarus” are… Writing things. Yeah, google this story. The United States and many countries of the European Union have expressed outrage (publicly) at Belarus for their actions. (Outrage aside, these two young writers and thinkers are still in jail, so. Outrage versus keys, who wins? This story so freaking sucks. If anyone can free these people, please do it; and if anyone wants to get rid of “dictator” style governments, we here at Amos will freaking help.)
In Mexico, a private builder is BULLDOZING the outskirts of Téotihuacan, (a UNESCO world heritage site).
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, financial aid will be given to the Gaza Strip following May hostilities (to whom and how distributed, though?) and the US embassy in Jerusalem is still probably going to be a thing (right or wrong, man). (See Reuters, among others. Or, again, google that shit. Please use reliable freaking sources.)
In Mali, a second coup d’état has occurred now that the acting Vice President has wrested power from the interim president and prime minister. This is the second coup d’état in nine months. (Fun Fact, apparently you can both grow a brand new human OR take and then overtake a government in nine freaking months.) Sources (among others): Washington Post and Reuters.
U.S./Nation
So, Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Georgia) is a total dipshit. (A) She doesn’t know that the Jews in the Holocaust were forced to wear a yellow star, nope, she calls it a “gold star” like they either won a prize, completed a chore, brushed their teeth, or were the family of a US military member killed in action. (All the same to her; vaguely yellow?) (B) Maskings and vaccinations in the US in 2021 are directly comparable to being victims of the actual Holocaust, according to Marge. Now, Twitter has already blown her up (and rightfully so) for this shit and even House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said (in almost angry language) that Ms. Greene is, and this is a quote, “wrong.” We have a pretty fucking awful feeling that Marge is just going to be happy she got some attention and continue being, for lack of a better or kinder term, a complete ignorant, badly-bleached, and utterly unsympathetic, um, representative. In the actual mother-fucking U.S. House of Representatives. (Georgia? Can you, like, un-lose your goddamn mind?)
Employers are still having a heckuva time finding employees. Will they raise their wages? (Who knows? Capitalism!) (Curious? Google “worker shortage.” It’s a real thing. Better yet, drive around your town and check out all the signs! Many restaurants are only open for drive through because they don’t have enough people to open the dining room. And you can find examples too. Collect them all!)
Yeah, okay. Wildfires across the country are actually still raging. Want to blow your mind? Check out the National Interagency Fire Center’s homepage: At this moment (1:46 AM) there are 19 wildfires in the continental US that are uncontained. As of today, in 2021 the burned acreage of land equals 623, 474 acres. (For reference’s sake, about every 2 acres equals a football field.) We’re not even half-way through 2021 yet.
Sports
We have no idea what Rachel Nichols wore today.
Apparently, “old guy” (not our term) Phil Mickelson won some kind of golf contest.
And the Boston Celtics lost against the Brooklyn Nets (108 to 130) so, uh, basketball!
Simone Biles did a thing. Also, apparently the judging committee might give it less points than it’s worth because it’s so great, well, numbers are hard. (New York Times)
The thing she did:
Money and Business
According to CNN, inflation is back and President Biden should be worried.
As of last night (05/25/21), at the close of the (U.S.) market, gold was trading at $1904.30 per Troy ounce. Corn was trading at $625 per bushel. For metals, both platinum and copper are, like, really rising in value (not technical terms). And, also as of last night, the Dow, the S&P500, and the NASDAQ were all down, but not much. (Don’t trust us here at Amos? Yeah, google that shit.)
Pop Culture: Movies, Books, Music, TV and Shit
Shopping: Hey, don’t forget to check out our Etsy shop.
Books: The latest you should maybe check out (but only if you want to): The Very Short Introduction series by Oxford University Press (for reals, good reading.). Also, World War Z by Max Brooks, Red Comet by Heather Clark. Plus The Incredible Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.
Commercials: We’re still really loving the Dr. Rick/Adult commercials from Progressive Insurance. Now, we ourselves used to be Progressive customers but we have since moved to Amica and we highly recommend that company (not an affiliate; we genuinely love our Amica insurance). Nevertheless, the Dr. Rick commercials are a million A pluses. (Bonus: a lot of those awesome commercials are on YouTube.)
TV and Movies and Streaming (they’re all the same now, no?): The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime, based on the novel of the same name), The End of the F***ing World (BBC Channel 4, Netflix), Derry Girls (currently on Netflix), Band of Brothers (HBO) and The Pacific (HBO). And the remarkably visually beautiful Emma, from 2020, with Anya Taylor-Joy (also currently streaming on HBO Max).
Music: Just in case you wanted to know, you can find a great big hunk of vintage Disney World music on Spotify, including the Tiki Room song, the Pirates of the Caribbean song, “Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” from Carousel of Progress, and “Grim Grinning Ghosts” from the Haunted Mansion. (Again, this is not an affiliate link; you can just genuinely find these things there.)
Want to write or podcast with us here at Amos? Just email us: amosmagdotcom@gmail.com