This Thanksgiving in the New Normal

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. Guess who’s back, back again? Bird Flu’s back, tell a friend

We have a new bird flu scare! Just in time for the Holidays, isn’t that weird?

In the US, the “first ever human fatality” was attributed to H5N5 bird flu earlier this week, when an unnamed and ungendered individual (allegedly) succumbed to the disease in Washington State. The deceased was supposedly elderly and dealing with multiple health issues, so one really wonders why they bothered putting it in the papers.

You know, outside the obvious propaganda stuff. For example: Did you know the dead person is supposed to have got bird flu from their backyard chickens? Maybe we should have licenses and registries!

The bird flu scare has already driven up the price of turkeys in the run-up to Thanksgiving, and lawmakers are calling on the USDA to increase bird flu surveillance.

On our side of the Atlantic, in just the last week, bird flu cases have popped up in Norfolk, Wales, Kent, Nottinghamshire, Buckinghamshire, Yorkshire and Dundee in just the last few days, leading to culls of farm birds and wild poultry.

There’s word this will drive up the price of poultry just before Christmas, and maybe even lead to shortages!

Isn’t that a terrible twist of fate? That things should conspire to pile expense, stress and anxiety on ordinary people who just want to relax and enjoy the holidays?

2. Enjoy the last Thanksgiving with tax-free Ultra-processed foods

A new paper has just been published warning of the long-term health impacts of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and demanding changes in policy to “halt and reverse the rise in ultra-processed food production, marketing, and consumption”.

Covered in the Lancet, The European Medical Journal, the BBC and others, the literature review claims there is strong evidence linking UPFs to dozens of long-term ailments, including type-2 diabetes and depression and calls them a “seismic threat” to public health.

This is an irritating item to cover because there’s some truth in it.

Yes, we know ultra-processed foods – along with chemical additives and artificial sweeteners – are very bad for you.

But at the same time, we also know that this only gets mainstream coverage because the elite plan to “rebuild our food system” – which means taxation, carbon credits and rationing.

Case in point, from the EMJ:

To curb this public health crisis, the series recommends comprehensive, coordinated action. Key measures include: front-of-pack warning labels, marketing restrictions for children, bans on ultra-processed foods in schools and hospitals, and higher taxes on ultra-processed foods […] Ultra-processed foods represent a global health crisis, affecting both human and planetary health. Experts urge immediate, coordinated policies to reduce consumption, regulate corporate practices, and transform food systems worldwide.

The Lancet Op-ed claims we need to “replace self-regulation with mandatory regulation” to protect public health

This has nothing to do with actual public well-being, and everything to do with a totemic worship of “public health” to justify massive amounts of social control.

It’s going to be interesting to see this narrative progress, because it’s going to be very hard to define lab-grown meat or yeast-goo as anything but “ultra-processed”, but they’re supposed to save the planet.

3. “Have your best baby”

OK, this isn’t Thanksgiving-related but it IS very creepy, and since I have to know about it, I think everyone else should too.

IVF company Nucleus is apparently advertising its services with the slogan “have your best baby”:

…alongside taglines talking up the gene-centric nature of height and IQ.

It is unabashedly eugenicist to the point where I almost question its sincerity, and circle round to wondering if the ads themselves are some strange psy-op.

Either way, it’s weird.

To tie it into our theme, let’s just all be thankful we were born before our parents had the option to dispose of us as short, stupid Untermenschen.

BONUS: Throwback of the week

Did you know some people still talk about COVID like it’s a thing? AOL has a map tracking “COVID activity” in the run-up to Thanksgiving.

It’s so retro. Like those people who pointedly write on typewriters.

BONUS II: Bleak video of the week

CBS have brought a psychiatrist on board to help teach people how to have awkward conversations with family members.

I’m not going to explain why that’s bleak and depressing.

Something to actually be thankful for

A new study has shown that former anti-diabetes drug and current weight loss trend Ozempic does nothing to slow the course of Alzheimer’s disease.

The terrible news caused the share price of pharma giant Novo Nordisk to crash.

Isn’t that a shame? Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Meanwhile, in Spain a new law has been passed reclassifying pets as “family members” rather than possessions. Among other things, pets will no longer be considered part of a household inventory or subject to seizure to settle debts.

As someone who spends a good deal of time looking for someone who is very much a member of the family, I like this news.

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All told a pretty hectic week for the new normal crowd, and we didn’t even mention CNN trying to teach us how to explain AI or the coming of the robot chefs.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends, have a nice Thursday everyone else.

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.</h6