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Soup For My College Educated International Family

Ask not for whom the Viber notification buzzes.

March 17th, 2022

“Daddy, what did you do in the war?” “I read a lot of tabs, son.” [THOUSAND YARD STARE, LONG DRAG ON CIGARETTE] “…A lot of tabs.” “Ukrainian influencers bring the frontlines to TikTok” reports Mia Sato in The Verge, and it’s a good survey of Ukrainian and Russian influencers swerving from NFTs and fashion to live war reporting, but if you get nothing else from it, don’t miss the Shrek video. According to the BBC, Russian state media is emptying out, although their evidence for it is mostly rumors. The Bundle for Ukraine is almost a thousand games for a minimum donation of just ten bucks, which has raised over six million dollars for two Ukrainian charities. Less than twelve hours left if you’re interested.

He was an actor and a gifted political communicator before his unexpected success in politics, but he struggled to actually govern. That’s right, I’m talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made a video addressed to the Russian people. It’s honestly a masterpiece. And the Wall St. Journal has the story of the battle for Voznesensk, which took place March second and third and stopped the Russian drive to cut off southern Ukraine and take Odessa, all of which still remain in Ukrainian hands.

As darkness fell March 2, Mr. Rudenko, who owns a company transporting gravel and sand, took cover in a grove on the wheat field’s edge under pouring rain. The Russian tanks there would fire into Voznesensk and immediately drive a few hundred yards away to escape return fire, he said.

Mr. Rudenko was on the phone with a Ukrainian artillery unit. Sending coordinates via the Viber social-messaging app, he directed artillery fire at the Russians. So did other local Territorial Defense volunteers around the city. “Everyone helped,” he said. “Everyone shared the information.”

Ask not for whom the Viber notification buzzes.

Another interesting thing about that WSJ story is that it’s by the Journal’s chief foreign-affairs correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov, a “Ukrainian-born Italian” who seems to have anachronistically existed even before Justin Smith dot news unveiled a plan to invent him “during an hourlong Zoom interview sponsored by the Harvard Business School Club of New York,” as The Times’s Michael M. Grynbaum reported.

Mr. Smith also shared his thoughts about what he called the end of an era when news outlets based in London, New York or Washington dispatched journalists to foreign countries to report on the goings-on there. He asked why foreign readers would not prefer a homegrown English-speaking native to report the news in their region.

“The idea that you send some well-educated young graduate from the Ivy League to Mumbai to tell us about what’s going on in Mumbai in 2022 is sort of insane,” Mr. Smith said.

Smith also hinted that his and Ben “No Relation” Smith’s news startup might be named “soup,” but I wondered who he’s actually talking about in that quote above. Reuters South Asia bureau chief Euan Rocha? Bloomberg South Asia managing editor Jeanette Rodrigues? I guess New York Times South Asia bureau chief Mujib Mashal did go to Columbia, maybe it’s him? Or maybe it’s Wall St. Journal South Asia bureau chief Niharika Mandhana, who also got her master’s in journalism at Columbia. CNN New Delhi bureau chief Nikhil Kumar “graduated with honors in philosophy from University College London” and worked in London and New York before New Delhi. Is it him?

It kind of looks like “homegrown English-speaking native” and “well-educated young graduate from the Ivy League” may not be different people at all. And hiring “very educated, English-language-educated journalists all around the world,” seems to be a great idea that every other global news organization has already had.

I don’t usually explain the tweets but this one is so funny that I’ll make an exception and point you to The Awl if you don’t get it. The Daily Telegraph was, is, and will be goblins, thanks to Ed Cumming. Tabs appreciates the mention and if you also include a link next time, we won’t bypass your paywall. Hannah Selinger wrote about Saugus, MA institution the Kowloon restaurant in Eater. I happened to drive that very stretch of Route 1 yesterday and believe me when I say: what a dump. The James Webb Space Telescope achieves perfect focus, promises crystal clear images of alien butts. In the Kiwi Korner, Alex Casey chronicled the rise and tragic fall of New Zealand’s biggest lumpiest boy Dug, who turned out not to be a potato at all but the “tuber of a type of gourd.” Meanwhile the New York Times is still deadnaming Dug. Shameful. BuzzFeed’s Paul McLeod reports that the Senate managed to protect daylight only because Marco Rubio didn’t tell anyone he was going to do it. Once again: the whole U.S. government is Calvinball.

Finally: Rob Madole reviewed Neal Stephenson’s latest love letter to the techno-oligarchy in The Baffler. Spoiler: like everything Stephenson has written since “Anathem,” it sucks.

Today’s Song: KayCyy, “Okay!” (Prod. Gesaffelstein)

~ ‘No, this is tabs for my family’, they’re so innocent ~

Thanks to Tabs Senior Volunteer Music Editor Sam Gavin for yet another today’s song. Surprise, I’m on twitter @fka_tabs. Registered at the post office as “the American newsletter.” Soup dot News is never gonna hire me now, huh? Please subscribe so I can afford soup for my own family.

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