The Monday Mix (16/01/2023)
Hey friends,
I ended up working late last night and forgot to send out this email, apologies. As it’s a day late I won’t waste time and will get into what I want to share this week:
The Art of The Steal
This is a crazy article about a criminal who evaded Canadian authorities for years while robbing banks and stealing one of the most valuable jewels in the world. The intro describes how he stole the Sisi Star from the Schloss Schonbrunn, which is the old palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna. If you’ve visited the castle, as I have, you’ll appreciate how big it is and then accomplishing what this guy did makes the story even crazier.
It’s weird why crimes such as this cause a sense of fascination in us in a way that a murder creates a sense of horror. Maybe, we appreciate someone whose able to beat the system. I don’t know, but it’s an interesting quirk of human nature.
Bloodbath Nation
An arresting account of the devastation that guns cause in America, which is reflected by the personal anecdote of the writer. Paul Auster details how his father was traumatised by the shooting of his Grandfather by his Grandmother in 1919. It’s a powerful story and highlights how deep and pervasive guns as an issue are in American society. As someone who’s not American, and lives in a country where there are strict regulations surrounding guns, gun control reform is a no-brainer when it comes to America. Yet, the issue has been politicised and I’m not sure there were ever be therefrom needed before an event that surpasses the grim spectacles that have already happened.
The article is an extract from a forthcoming book and it’s one I’ll more than likely read, although I’d prefer it if that wasn’t necessary.
Ocean Plastic
There are currently 75 to 199 million tons of plastic in the oceans. That statistic blew me away when I read this article. I knew the situation was bad but the figure is astounding. The Ocean Cleanup is one nonprofit trying to make a dent in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and while this is undoubtedly a good idea, I can’t help feeling the root issue is being ignored. The sheer amount of plastic used daily is the problem. Where is the innovation to create bottles and containers that don’t use plastic and are biodegradable? Perhaps, another important question to ask is whether that’s possible.
As much help as they might be, The Ocean Cleanup could be running for decades before they remove anywhere near 75 million to 199 million tons not to mention the inevitable deluge of more plastic. Surely, removing plastic from supply chains is the place to start?
Book I’m reading - Extraterrestrial by Avi Loeb
Do you remember the frenzy that was created around an interstellar object passing through our solar system a few years ago? Well, this is a book about that and the author, a Harvard astrophysicist speculates that ‘Oumuamua, as it came to be known could be artificial in origin. If so, that poses some fascinating questions for humanity, as it would we’re aren’t alone in the universe. A proposition that seems fanciful given the size of our own galaxy and the vastness of the universe.
Quote I’m pondering: – “Elegance is inferior to virtue.” – Mary Shelley
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom