Lies, Damn Lies, and October Suprises
A letter (not a joke note masquerading as a letter) from the editor of Counterspin: Lies, Damn Lies, and Spin
(Obviously not me, but let’s just pretend it is for sake of the metaphor)
Oh my, heavens. Look at the calendar. We’ve only got about 12 weeks left of this trage- I mean year. What a year it’s been so far, right? We’d like to do a year in rewind piece, but that would take yet another year to unpack, so let’s keep this brief. Just the highlights - so far. Plus, we need to save our energy for “THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIMES (SO FAR) DECISION 2024”.
Where did we come from? Starting high this year though working in a slow, meandering decline throughout, has been the War in Ukraine; or the new ‘American Get Rich Quick Forever’ scheme. Public sentiment in a plethora of “western” nations, at an all time high in mid-2022 with roughly 2/3 support, has waned significantly in light of unmaterialized Spring, Summer (and now presumably) Fall “Counteroffensives”. People are tired of seeing nothing in return for their money, while being told to do without in the meantime. It is becoming a burden too great to bare, and, just as Omicron brought a season of sea change, so does the second year of this proxy war.
That wasn’t all, of course. Lahaina burned to the ground, and Oprah rejoiced (allegedly). Tony Bennett finally joined Gene Krupa and the rest of the quartet in the sky. Canada honored and apologized for honoring an SS Waffen member. Biden fell asleep during several high profile events. New COVID boosters. Apple finally gave the world the iPhone+USB-C that it had always deserved. That is to say, half baked, and badly implemented.
In short, 2023 has been a giant fuckfest from start to finish in every possible way, and it still has 12 weeks to go.
So, what about us? What’s coming next from Counterspin?
Well, we have a treat for you. We’re going to be hosting our first ever “Headline of the Year Awards” ceremony in December, a bit of a roast of the worst from corporate news in the past year. On top of that, there are other pieces planned that we’ve shuffled to the back burner given the lackluster open rate I saw from the first half. We have other topics we still have yet to cover that we think are deserving of attention, or are otherwise interesting and of note. Some of this is outside of Counterspin’s typical wheelhouse. Some of it strikes old chords and parades old themes. As always, we look forward to your comments and thoughts on anything we bring to you.
So, for this month, I’ve got some fun ideas in mind for a few soft pieces, something a bit more authentic and hard-hitting, and then perhaps punch and pie. November? Dunno. I’ll figure that out when I get to it. December is the awards month, and I’ll be bringing you dumb or otherwise asinine news headlines on Notes, and you can maybe see who wins the Worst in Show category. Then, it’s winter break for me. Don’t expect much from us (providing things remain as calm as they have) prior to January ‘24. If something noteworthy happens, we’ll of course offer a perspective or a thought.
That’s all from us though, for now. Look for more stuff in the coming weeks, and as always you can find us on Substack Notes or Telegram (t.me/counterspin_substack) 24/7/365.765
“Get rich quick forever”!! 😂
I shouldn’t, as it’s as disgusting and immoral as it gets, but oh that brought a chuckle!!
Definitely looking forward to the coming months of output - i always read in app by the way. ;)