Please Don’t Eat My Banana
December 9, 2019
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
– Pablo Picasso
China’s Next Decade &The Future of Hong Kong and Taiwan
Monday marks the six month anniversary of the mass rally in Hong Kong that triggered a political crisis and caused major business disruptions and property damage.
The protests began over a controversial extradition bill proposed for the semiautonomous Chinese territory, but evolved into broader anti-government, pro-democracy demonstrations. At times violent confrontations erupted between protesters and police, with so much teargas enveloping large parts of the city citizens complained of negative health effects.
Hong Kong has been relatively calm since pro-democracy candidates won a landslide victory in local council elections two weeks ago. For the first time since August, police permitted a rally on Sunday by the pro-democracy group Civil Human Rights Front. Tens of thousands of marchers took part, with numbers ranging between the organizers’ estimates of 800,000 to police estimates of less than 200,000.
In a statement Saturday the government called for calm and said it had “learned its lesson and will humbly listen to and accept criticism.” At the end of Sunday’s march, officials said they looked forward to finding “a way out for Hong Kong’s deep problems through dialogue.”
Around 6,000 people have been arrested and hundreds injured, including police, since June. Civil Human Rights Front said this is the government’s last chance to meet their demands, which include an independent inquiry into the police’s handling of the protests, an amnesty for those arrested, and free elections.
Pnut Commentary: Daily Pnut’s Tim spoke with some friends in the national security sector last week and one mentioned that if China wanted to invade or takeover Taiwan now (a la Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Crimea), then it’s unlikely the USA would intervene militarily. It was shocking at first to hear this but upon further reflection this is probably indeed how things would play out. Right now America doesn’t have the national will to protect certain allies. Furthermore, right now it doesn’t have the desire or ability to lead internationally.
- China tells government offices to remove all foreign computer equipment (Guardian)
- The Chinese Roots of Italy’s Far-Right Rage The country’s new politics are often attributed to anger over migrants. But the story begins decades ago, when China first targeted small textile towns. (NYT, $)
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping… He Sees You When You’re Sleeping… He Sees You When You’re Sleeping.
- An evil twist on the tradition of Saint Nicolas rewarding well-behaved children with gifts at Christmas time is Krampus, the horned “half-goat, half-demon” figure of centuries-old Central European folklore. What was an ancient ritual in which young men dressed up as mythical creatures and paraded through the streets to disburse winter’s ghosts became a warning for children who misbehaved.
- The scary pre-Christmas tradition has had a resurgence throughout Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. And in some Austrian cities today’s Krampus has become a very modern bogeyman, with an increasing number of complaints of drunken costumed demons, marauding and acting violently. (Guardian)
The Art World Is Bananas
- Last week artwork — consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall — was on display at the international gallery Perrotin at Art Basel in Miami when it sold for $120,000. The piece by an Italian artist was entitled Comedian, and was hailed by the gallery founder as “a symbol of global trade, a double entendre, as well as a classic device for humour.”
- On Saturday a performance artist who said he was hungry ate the ever-ripening banana in front of a crowd. But the gallery director said that didn’t destroy the piece because “The banana is the idea.” The art work comes with a certificate of authenticity and the owners can regularly replace the banana. (Guardian)
- This Art Is Bananas (NPR)
Additional World News
- Nature’s ‘Brita Filter’ Is Dying And Nobody Knows Why (NPR)
- Video Games and Online Chats Are ‘Hunting Grounds’ for Sexual Predators (NYT, $) & How to Protect Your Children From Online Sexual Predators (NYT, $)
- In A Warming Greenland, A Farming Family Adapts To Drought — And New Opportunities (NPR)
- Zelensky’s Opponents Fear He Is Ready to Capitulate to Russia (NYT, $)
- A 5-year-old carried a toddler half a mile in Alaska terrain after being left home alone, police say (CNN)
This Borders On Illegal
- Anti-immigrant allies of President Trump have contributed millions of dollars to privately fund the building of a border wall along the US-Mexico border. Construction is continuing in violation of last week’s two court-ordered injunctions ordering the work be suspended. A state judge granted an injunction on December 3 due to potential “imminent and irreparable damage” to the National Butterfly Center, a popular 100-acre riverfront nature preserve adjacent to property owned by Neuhaus and Sons LLC, which had given permission for wall construction on its property. Advocates for the center said the wall could act as a dam and redirect floodwater and debris to the sanctuary, destroying an ecosystem which sustains hundreds of native butterfly species and birds.
- On December 5 the federal government launched a separate legal action to stop the construction on grounds it violated binational treaty obligations that require hydraulic studies be done proving the wall would not worsen flooding on the river.
- Fisher Industries is constructing the wall and on Friday an employee said the work was continuing uninterrupted despite the injunctions. Last week Fisher Sand and Gravel — which has a history of environmental and tax violations — was awarded a $400 million Pentagon contract to build 31 miles of wall in Arizona. (Guardian)
- Violence Drives a Swell in Mexican Migration: Many are asylum seekers but are being forced to wait in Mexico, where their lives may be at risk. (NYT, $)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1…We Have Time Off!
- Speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, Democratic and Republican aides confirmed that leaders on Capitol Hill were nearing agreement in negotiations on an annual defense policy bill. The agreement is not finalized and comes after extensive behind-the-scenes battling on the annual defense measure, which has passed Congress every year since the Kennedy administration.
- But this time the budget could encompass a tradeoff that would grant federal workers 12 weeks of paid family leave in exchange for the president getting his cherished space force, an idea he’s become “increasingly fixated” on as a way to leave his mark on the presidency.
- The parental leave provision would be a partial victory for federal workers who face other benefit cuts under Trump’s budget submissions. Numerous details regarding the space force idea remain to be worked out and funding would be delivered through separate spending legislation also taking shape behind the scenes. (Guardian)
- A former Republican Congress member explains what happened to his party (Vox)
The Fandom Menace
- In 2012 the Walt Disney Co. paid $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd, the production company behind the Star Wars space movies. But executives didn’t yet fathom how the purchase of that cinematic world came with such dyed-in-the-wool disciples of the original movies that they attend conferences dressed in painstakingly accurate regalia and endlessly debate the minutiae of the mystically binding energy known as the Force and other lore. (Think Sheldon and Leonard on Big Bang Theory.)
- A consultant was hired to help Disney execs understand how cautious they had to be moving forward to bring Luke Skywalker back to the big screen. In 2013, when filmmakers pitched studio chief Alan Horn on the plot of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” scheduled to hit theaters in 2015, Horn had a caveat for them: While Disney wanted to sell millions of toys, fans could never sense that any character or plot point was conceived as a business decision.
- The Star Wars characters were different. Any whiff of marketing imperatives driving the creative decisions on the Star Wars franchise would immediately, in the eyes of devoted fans, cast Disney as the evil empire that had gobbled up their beloved modern-day myth. Navigating that danger zone has proved to be the most difficult part of absorbing the blockbuster series: How to bring aboard a new generation of moviegoers while avoiding turning off the die-hard fans that have an outsize voice in the success or failure of the films. (WSJ)
- Film in the 2010s: The decade that changed cinema forever (BBC)
- Real X-Wings took flight at Disney’s new Star Wars ride grand opening thanks to Boeing (TechCrunch)
Additional Reads
- Is travel the secret to a long life? Feeling old and shunned, legendary writer Paul Theroux leaves the US and journeys to a country that reveres the elderly. (BBC)
- Does e-money make you spend more? Many countries have already started to shun physical money – and the UK and USA are already lagging behind. Are we wise to keep our cash? Or are we simply stuck in the past? (BBC)