Greetings Webtaculators! I have to return to working in person this week. I am apprehensive at best. One of the few things about COVID that has been OK is working from home. My job is one of those where I spend a lot of time thinking, researching, and writing – none of which are quite conductive to an office setting even during normal times. Sure, meetings haven’t been as engaging, and spontaneously sharing thoughts with co-workers is more difficult, but I am pretty certain that my actual work product has improved immensely since doing all my work from the same room that I have my drums and bobble-head collection in. I spent most of my life doing homework for nothing, and working from home means that I essentially have been getting paid to do homework for the last year and a half. It’s been great.

It is also going to be interesting because I have no clue what the actual office culture of my job is since I got a new one during the pandemic. I sort of know some of the people I have been working with, but at most I interface with four people two hours a day at most. I don’t know if Alex over in Accounting is a loud mouth breather who likes telling sexist jokes, or if Linda in HR thrives off of weaponizing gossip, and I am not super jazzed to find out. All of this to say that the thought of returning gave me enough anxiety to make me stress-clean the laundry closet (I disconnected the washer and dryer, shoved them into the living room, and furiously got rid of every piece of lint that I could find [the family was NOT happy with this]). Maybe all this worrying is for naught, and everything will be just fine – but I still feel unsettled heading back into the workplace as the Delta variant continues on its warpath of destruction. Oh well, so it goes. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: In Putin’s Pocket
Why: Because again, even if Trump isn’t wasn’t a direct Russian asset, it is clear that the Russians understood how easily manipulatable he would be as president.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Bad Deal
Why: Because it turns out Trump was awful at the economy, too.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: What Is Wrong With Texas
Why: Because a federal Texan judge decided that a broken Congress is the only way for DACA to exist, so all current applications to remain legally in the US are on hold. Also, Texas recently decided to try to ban teaching history, sorry, I mean stop teaching civil rights in its classrooms.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: Well This Is Fun
Why: Because by “fun” I mean horrifying. Take Miami, for example. In 1980, there were about 90 days a year over 90 degrees. Today, there are roughly 135 days a year over 90 degrees. for those of you bad at math, that’s over an entire additional month of days over 90 degrees. The models are only trending upwards. No wonder why that city is screwed.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Athletics Vs. Aesthetics
Why: Because as women continue to push the boundaries of gymnastics, the scoring system, organizers, and sport itself largely remain stuck in the past.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Movies You Didn’t See
Why: Because there were a whole lot of good movies that people largely ignored. Or go watch Space Jam, I guess…

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Just A Friend To Us All
Why: Because Biz Markie passed away. 

DOCUMENTARY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What Did You Say
Why: Because it turns out making someone speak words they never spoke is something that is now a reality, and doesn’t look like it will stop.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Ol’ Switcheroo
Why: Because I was going to write about the new Nintendo Switch OLED, which basically an old Switch with a nicer screen, but then Valve came out swinging with the thing that everyone wanted the new Switch to be.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Meta Adverts; Lego About Nothing; Treat Yourself
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: $100,000 TV
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™