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This Week in the New Normal #40

Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world.

1. Hollywood stars eat bugs…so you should too!

The Mirror has a new angle on the whole “eat ze bugs” line. Two new angles really, it’s no longer about saving the planet, which simply doesn’t work on people.

No, now eating bugs is cool and hip, according to their article:

Health-obsessed Hollywood stars swap meat for ants and worms with new insect diet

Interestingly the article is actually out of date in some respects. It claims Nicole Kidman ate a four-course meal of bugs “last month”, but that publicity stunt was actually recorded four years ago. It also uses old stories about Salma Hayek, Robert Downey jr and others to try and make this seem like a new trend, when the anecdotes and footage date as far back as 2015.

Almost like they’re trying to sell a new message with old news.

Eating bugs isn’t just cool because celebrities do it, though it’s also really good for you. At least, according to the unnamed authors of an unlinked-to report funded by persons unknown:

Insects are considered highly nutritional; the majority of them are rich in protein, healthy fats, iron, and calcium, and low in carbohydrates. In fact, the authors of the FAO report claim that insects are just as – if not more – nutritious than commonly consumed meats, such as beef.

So, tuck in everybody.

2. “Monkeypox related deaths”

So it begins – the monkeypox deaths are upon us. Sorry not “monkeypox deaths”, but rather “monkeypox related deaths”. That’s how the Guardian describes the first (and only) two people to die in Europe so far in the monkeypox outbreak.

The global cost of the plague currently stands at eight – just eight. Five in Africa (where the disease is supposedly endemic), one in Brazil and now two in Spain.

We know that a “Covid death” is “death from any cause within 30 (or 60) days of a positive test”, so “monkeypox related” deaths are likely the same…if not even more loosely defined.

Just consider what monkeypox related could actually mean…

A drunk driver hitting a monkeypox awareness billboard, dying of a heart attack because you’re so worried about monkeypox, crushed to death by the press of the panicking crowd outside a monkeypox vaccination center. Pushed down the stairs by your spouse who recently tested positive for monkeypox.

These are all related to monkeypox. That’s just the facts. Feel free to post your own “monkeypox related deaths” in the comments below.

In other Monkeypox news, good old Thedros is back in front of the press warning about “misinformation” which could “fuel the outbreak” and calling on “tech companies and social media” to “counter harmful information”.

Just more normalising of censorship.

3. Tone deaf PR in warzone

This week we were treated to something so awkwardly odd you’d never believe it – the wife of the supposedly embattled President of an apparently war-torn Ukraine…doing a photo shoot for Vogue:

She managed to rope her husband into making an appearance (though not into changing his ubiquitous khaki t-shirt):

They even made the cover, under the title Portrait Of Bravery: Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska.

You might think this was a poor move, out of touch, silly even, or maybe that it somewhat undercuts the whole war in Ukraine narrative. But it doesn’t, the Washington Post said so:

The Zelenskys are in Vogue. That makes them smart, not silly.

The article is written by someone called “Sonny Bunch”. It is all just delightfully absurd.

BONUS: Investment tip of the week

Bill Gates is putting millions of dollars in investments behind a new air conditioning technology, which is allegedly better for the environment.

I don’t know if it really is good for the environment, it could be worse for all I know, but I do know that traditional air conditioning is probably going to experience some kind of scandal, or face some new legislation, which tanks its value whilst coincidentally boosting the value of the new tech at some point in the near future.

It happens every time.

Might be wise to buy some stock if you’re into that.

It’s not all bad…

A new Japanese study published in Nature found that face masks are breeding grounds for fungal microbes and bacteria, and may pose a threat to people with compromised immune systems. Not exactly good news, but a nice addition to the growing pile of “I told you so” evidence.

In Germany, the Economics Minister was booed during a speech, which is always fun…

Some more good news is our Meme Mondays are coming back by popular demand, so look for that tomorrow morning.

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All told a pretty hectic week for the new normal crowd, and we didn’t even mention hiring sex workers to service the disabled or the latest push for lab grown meat.

There’s a lot of change in the air, a lot of agendas in the works, if you see a headline, article, post or interview you think is a sign of the times, post it in the comments, email us or share it on social media and we will add it to the next edition.

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