The week in insecurity

SOMETHING FOR THE HISTORIANS

The hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson and his racist university. Most of the things Kennedy apologists have told you about the Cuban Missile Crisis is wrong (I love stuff that exposes just how appalling St Bobby Kennedy really was). And in the rewriting of recent history — how the forever warriors are mortified at the idea of an end to US interventionism and continue to call for more wars. Meanwhile in the UK, the royal family and the government continue to block the release of embarrassing historical documents.

FROM THE TEST-TUBE

Yes the pandemic really did cause a baby bust, but did lockdowns really cause a spike in cancer severity due to delays in detection? The evidence is mixed. Plenty of time to dream when you’re dead. And Australian researchers — maybe — detect a different kind of gravitational wave using a very different kind of detector (forgive my obsession with gravity waves — but how cool is it we can detect ripples in space-time?)

THE WEEK IN INSECURITY

Really great piece from Lizzie O’Shea and Mark Andrejevic on the disastrous News Media Bargaining Code. I keep pointing this out, people — especially journalists who write on national security and surveillance — keep ignoring it. Our governments are the biggest cybersecurity threat: the NSA created a backdoor into a software product and the Chinese walked right in. Think you can trust ProtonMail? Yeah, nah. Governments could be manipulating information on mapping services, including Google Maps, to control your movement. Fanciful? It’s already happened. And 20 years on from 9/11, no one has been prosecuted in relation to the atrocity — to spare the vile Saudi tyranny embarrassment.

AMERICAN DYSTOPIA PART ∞

Just how evil is the Texas Taliban law punishing abortion? Evil in all kinds of new ways. American teachers now have to deprogram the children of anti-vaxxers and QAnon supporters post-lockdown. Steve Bannon called on conspiracy theorists and fascists to seize control of the Republican Party at the district level — and that’s exactly what’s happening. And finally, how QAnon destroyed American families.

FOREIGN DESK

Who’s likely to replace Yoshihide Suga as Japanese Prime Minister? The European Union is planning a rapid-deployment force of 5000 soldiers. Neoliberal wishful thinking? Why Xi is leading China back into the middle-income trap. Social Democrats headed for victory in Germany’s election? German conservatives are in “despair”, Deutsche Welle reports. Even foreign policy wonks need to relax, so here are eight great foreign policy movies to watch.

FINALLY

Even in crude Google Translate, Le Monde’s obit on Jean-Paul Belmondo is the best thing you’ll read about the star today (also: why À bout de souffle is still important). And how awful to lose Michael K Williams, far too young. From a rich career, Omar Little remains one of the great television characters in one of the greatest television dramas.