Chicken or Egg? Ladybird or Ladybug?
Mōrena lil shits!!
First off, holy shit - the BIGGEST thank you I could possibly conjure up goes out to all our new ✨SYSCA supporters.✨I can’t really put into words how shook/ overjoyed/ grateful I am to all of you who see the value in what we do here at SYSCA - you’re quite literally the ones who are making sure this thing keeps going - it’s in your hands!! Seeing all your names pop up & the GORGEOUS messages that flooded my inbox yesterday did bring on a few happy tears & your generosity has proven to me - once again - that the newsy besties are the best people to exist.
🥺 If you want to pay for the media you love and make sure I can continue to do this for you, PLEASE, become a SYSCA supporter here - I need you! 🥺
Now an update on me! I made it to Hawkes Bay where I’m consuming hot cross buns & feijoas like they’re going out of fashion!! Last night I caught up with the family I used to babysit for when I was a student (who are now my very dear friends) and I have been instructed to give a shoutout to Ted, Pippa and Rosie, who think they have a famous ex-babysitter (even if they’re not allowed to say the first word of our brand) and are the cutest damn kids ever.
In today’s newsletter:
The Russians have ‘pledged to ease their attack,’ but the West are pretty bloody sceptical
NEW EPISODE OF CULTURE VULTURE
After 200 attempts in over 100 years, lynching is a federal hate crime in the US
Some Miley Cyrus news
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Ladybird or ladybug?
✨ PS!! I’ve had a few people reaching out wanting to advertise in the newsy - if you or the organisation you work for is interested in renting some space to chat to over 50k of the coolest humans on the planet, hit us up (or just reply to this email!) ✨
So the Russians have ‘pledged to ease their attack,’ but the West are pretty bloody sceptical
I thought it was time for a wee update on the Russia/Ukraine sitch for you all. Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine recently gathered in Istanbul, where a Russian official said that Russia would ‘sharply reduce military activity” around Kyiv and Chernihiv. (Note: they will continue to go as hard as possible against other parts of Ukraine.) To me (and to lots of people with much more expertise on this subject) it feels like this ‘sharp reduction’ in military activity comes after Russia realised that they couldn’t just steamroll the Ukrainian soldiers in these cities and it wasn’t as easy as they’d anticipated, so now they’re trying to frame their loss (or lack of progress) as a decision they’ve made to pull back.
But enough from me, here are some hot takes from some far more important people:
Joe Biden says that it’s all well and good to say these things, but “we’ll see if they follow through with what they are suggesting.”
US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, says ‘there is what Russia says and there’s what Russia does, and what Russia is doing is the continued brutalization of Ukraine and its people.”
Boris Johnson says he will judge Russia by its actions, not its words.
Zelensky says that while these negotiations with Russia had been positive, “these signals do not silence the explosion of Russian shells.”
The mayor of Chernihiv says "time will tell" if the Russians stick to their word.
And a Russian negotiator warns the de-escalation is "not a ceasefire."
✨PLEASE SUPPORT US✨ — shityoushouldcareabout.memberful.com
After 200 attempts for over 100 years, lynching is a federal hate crime in the US
Content warning: Lynching, violence.
Yep, you read that right - 200 ATTEMPTS LATER - and lynching is finally a federal hate crime in the US, after Biden signed in the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act.
Lynching, for those who need a refresher, is ‘murder by a mob with no due process or rule of law’ and about 4,400 African Americans were lynched between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative.
The Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act, which was just signed in, allows an act to be prosecuted as a lynching “when a person conspires to commit a hate crime that results in death, serious bodily injury, and other serious harms.”
This move has important symbolic power. In practice, it gives federal prosecutors another tool to prosecute some of the country’s most brutal hate crimes, building on the severity of the laws that already exist. But it also validates the present-day effect of lynchings - that the person who was killed is not the only victim - they’re representative of a whole community who have been targeted. Lynchings are typically motivated by race, sexual orientation, religion - or another aspect of someone’s identity - which leaves the community they belong to feeling threatened, and unsafe. A step in the right direction, albeit (who knew that was one word?) 200 attempts later.
New Episode of Culture Vulture!
'That Girl' vs 'Goblin Mode' — open.spotify.com
This week Liv and I discuss the two trends taking over our TikTok/ news feeds at the moment - 'That Girl' and 'Goblin Mode.' Why do we need to keep flattening ourselves and labelling ourselves? Are trends taking the place of religion? How closely is goblin mode tied to mental health? How close is 'That Girl' tied to perfectionism and unrealistic expectations? Is it all this deep???? LISTEN WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODS - IT'S A GOODIE.
Some Miley Cyrus news
Miley Cyrus is a fucking rockstar and honestly, I can’t get enough of her at the moment. She’s getting a section because I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to Edge of Midnight (w Stevie Nicks) and she’s just announced she’s releasing a full live album: ‘Attention: Miley Live.’ It’s gonna have 20 songs on it, from across every era of her career and it’s gonna be released on April 1st (the same day as the Harry single - great day to be a music lover.)
Here’s the tracklist:
‘Attention’
‘We Can’t Stop’ X ‘Where Is My Mind?’
‘Plastic Hearts’
‘Heart Of Glass’
‘4×4’
‘(SMS) Bangerz’
‘Dooo It!’
’23’
‘Never Be Me’
‘Maybe’
‘7 Things’ (OMG)
‘Bang Bang’ X ‘See You Again’ (OMG)
‘Jolene’ (OMG)
‘High’
‘You’
‘Like A Prayer’
‘Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)’
‘The Climb’ (OMG)
‘Wrecking Ball’ X ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’
‘Party In The USA’ (OMG)
Music aside, Miley recently helped a couple of fans propose during her set at Lolapalooza, saying “Congratulations! Honey, I hope your marriage goes better than mine. Mine was a fucking disaster.” A sacred moment shared by all!
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Holy shit!! This was one of the closest polls we’ve ever done.
49% of you said chicken
51% of you said egg
To make things a bit more confusing for you, here’s what science.org.au say:
“Eggs certainly came before chickens, but chicken eggs did not—you can’t have one without the other. However, if we absolutely had to pick a side, based on the evolutionary evidence, we’re on Team Egg.”
Idk about you, but that has me even more scrambled.
Ladybird or ladybug?
HONESTLY, I GO IN BETWEEN. And I thought this was a great poll (sent in by the teacher of a bunch of tamariki who were learning about insects) 🥺🥺
27% of you say ladybird
73% say ladybug
Simon said: “You New Zealanders are weird as hell.”
Just a really good tweet
Listen to Harry :P
Please 🥺 — shityoushouldcareabout.memberful.com
That Girl vs Goblin Mode (Culture Vulture)
A Plane Crash & A Pay Gap (The Shit Show)
Lady Gaga Doesn’t Want to Get Coffee With Caitlyn Jenner (The Cut)
Kevin G. from Mean Girls is my favorite lifestyle influencer (Vox)
Nobody wants more crappy videos on Instagram. Too bad. (Vox)
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You can listen to us talk about all things pop culture on Culture Vulture, about THE WORLD on The Shit Show or watch us explain the internet on Extremely Online.
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LOVE YOU THE MOST, LUCE XX
