Followed shortly thereafter by black pudding (the real ancestor of internet link sausages, and much scarier than the D&D monster), Cyber Monday, and imminent collapse of the ecosystem.
- Bad economic analysis and mythology abounds at this time of year. In the UK, another election season contrasted with Brexit rumblings (and not just from the sausages!) should make for a truth-and-reality-free end to 2019, even without considering the US impeachment hearings. Then there's the nonmonetary (non-)marketplace of ideas, which — as usual — is more than a bit misdistributed, especially when people still listen to "long tail" quackery with even more enthusiasm than Jerry Springer audiences.
- The perhaps-not-so-delicious contrast between refutations of ideological predictions that increasing minimum wages will lead to job losses and Mark "Le net c'est moi" Zuckerberg's insane advocacy for billionaires as meriting their entitlement could make for some really fascinating Thanksgiving Day table conversations. Fascinating in that same Jerry Springer way, or — in a more-genteel setting — a misplaced argument among Jane Austen afficionados, most of whom have no bloody clue about the context.
And only a week and a half until the Turkey Awards show up for this year! The cranberry-mango chutney is already cooked and aging in the refrigerator.
- Speaking of Black Friday, are you ready to add to your advertiser-friendly personal profile with your inherently discriminatory credit score? Hint on the latter: Think for a moment about "redlining," the purported value of "home ownership" in credit scores and reports, and the lingering influence of A Raisin in the Sun — not just literarily but legally (and yes, the author of the former is a litigant in the latter).