CivWiki Newsletter for April 1, 2024

Good morning and happy April from New England!

Well, I mean, what did you expect, an April Fools joke? I know I’m one of the most respected publications on the platform (if you can really call it that), but this would be a pretty heinous crime to spout fake news on a day like this.

We’re literally in the middle of a serious election year and you want me to make jokes about a Minecraft block game? I couldn’t possibly do that, at all. As you all know, Civ is talking about the civilization we all live in, and the wiki part is the community contribution part, not to mention I work from Wikipedia so much.

Without further ado, let’s get into the news!

Featured

Featured Image

This week’s featured image is the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Built out of copper by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and Gustave Eiffel in France in 1876, it was presented as a gift to the United States to celebrate the centennial of the country. Today, it stands as an icon of America and New York City, representing opportunity for immigrants and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, representing “endures as a highly potent symbol — inspiring contemplation, debate and protest — of ideals such as liberty, peace, human rights, abolition of slavery, democracy and opportunity.”

Although, the background doesn’t have that recognizable New York skyline I remember so well… must be my memory.

Featured Article

The Order of Brothelyngham was a gang of men who, in mid-14th-century England, formed themselves into a fake religious order in Exeter, Devon. Styling themselves as theatrical players, they terrorised, kidnapped and extorted the locals. They may well have been satirising the church, which was commonly perceived as corrupt. The group appears to have named itself after a non-existent place, “Brothelyngham”. The name was probably meant as an allusion to the Order of Sempringham, which was known to enclose both monks and nuns on the same premises. Members of the Order of Brothelyngham dressed as monks.

They supposedly elected a madman to rule them as their abbot, possibly from a theatrical stage, and bore their ruler aloft before them in a mockery of a bishop’s throne. As one of the few such gangs known to modern historians, the order is considered significant for what it suggests of anticlerical activities and attitudes in England during the period. (Full article…)

This week’s featured article image is a picture of the Cathedral of Exeter, which condemned the order in 1348.

This Week Last Year

The News

On the outskirts of the Chesapeake Bay looking towards Baltimore, at night.

As all of you know, we keep the sections to five bulletpoints or less (mostly less), focusing on the most important news and referencing multiple sources to make sure everyone gets the full picture throughout the world. It was a little slow of a news week this week, so luckily this won’t be as painful…

The US

• A container ship lost power in the early morning of March 26, and rammed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. There are are six workers that were on the bridge that have been presumed dead; although cars were found in the water, authorities did not believe anybody was inside. It may take a while for shipping activities, let alone traffic, to return to normal.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to pass Ukraine aid through the Republican-controlled house. However, his party isn’t so happy about the actions he’s taking, even if it’s critical to Ukraine’s war effort.
• Boston University graduate students are striking for wages that are reflective of the city’s high cost — yet the dean is suggesting professors to use AI to grade undergraduate work. So much for a $90,000 price tag.
• California’s fast food workers, starting today, will be getting a minimum wage increase up to $20, a 25% increase. It’s a big reflection of the high costs in the region, but chains are threatening price hikes to cover the costs.

Americas

• Over a decade after a devastating earthquake, Haiti still has no government, with gangs ruling the streets. What’s it like living in this reality of crime and poverty with no hope of reconstruction?
• French president Emmanuel Macron met Brazilian president Lula de Silva, and the media’s already speculating about their wedding. In all seriousness, it’s interesting to see the rapprochement in relations after former president Jair Bolsonaro’s term, as they toured Belem in the Amazon rainforest.

Europe

Marshes at Warta Mouth National Park near the German border at Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland.

• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warns that war is now a real threat, but Europe is not ready.
• It’s been a year since US reporter Evan Gershkovich has been held in Russia for espionage allegations. Russia knows the US can trade detainees though and does want someone in return.
• Details from the Moscow concert massacre continue to be discovered with new connections to Tajikistan.
• After Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement, I think it’s worth it to reflect on why we’re so attracted to reporting so much on her.

Middle East & Africa

• Despite continued aid by the United States and reports from Hamas, reports of famine are probably true in Gaza, even as Israel denies the allegations yet prevents aid from entering the country, and is not complying with a UN-ordered ceasefire.
• Israel’s military is also now facing a crisis about whether to recruit ultra-religious scholars into service as well, and not everyone likes this decision.
• Senegal’s newest president won with 54% of the vote. Running as the opposition, you might not know Diomaye Faye — who was freed from prison less than two weeks ago — but promised to fight corruption in the country that’s been rampant throughout the last government.

Asia & Oceania

A floating market, called Pasar terapung, in “the city of a thousand rivers”, Banjarmasin, Indonesia

• Radio Free Asia, a US-funded radio station, announced it would be closing their branch in Hong Kong over fears of reporter safety. This comes after the territory passed Article 23, which severely limits Chinese dissent inside Hong Kong.
• Sikhs in California are voting for an independent state in India. Yes, you read that sentence right, but it’s because of crimes against Sikhism in the United States.
• Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning blockbuster Oppenheimer finally releases in Japan — but not everyone in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is quite happy about it.
• New Zealand, Tahiti and the Cook Islands have made whales legal personhood — in an effort for conservation.

Business, Tech & the Economy

• In a surprise move, Disney is settling with Florida governor Ron DeSantis after the company criticized his policies and likewise threatened the company’s special legal status of Disney World.
• FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison after finding him showing a lack of remorse for his crimes while leading a life of “unmatched greed and hubris”. The court sketch is a bit funny though.
• Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is stepping down after a series of mechanical failures on their planes. Employees say that won’t be enough.
• Test how your political leanings compare against the top AIs, and see how Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others train their AIs to be as politically correct as possible.

The Fun Stuff

A volcano in Iceland erupting — amidst inklings of the Northern Lights in the background.

Cool Content

• Everyone and their grandmother is awaiting the release of Beyonce’s first country album, “Cowboy Carter”, and she explains why she made it to NPR.
• Why is a TikTok account literally reading the news getting millions of views? It’s like why you’re reading this now: to allow people to think critically about new things around, and it’s not all doom and gloom.
• Dropout’s newest show, Smartypants, is about comedians presenting very unserious presentations in a very serious manner. It’s like Talking Points, but if the people talking were about something important, like personal gundams.

Sports Corner

• With baseball having its Opening Day, newly-signed Dodger superstar Shohei Ohtani beat the scandals with his first hit this season being a stand-up double (which could have been a triple if the third base coach was a doofus)
• Of course, it is possibly worth talking about sports betting and the current scandal that Shohei and more specifically, his interpreter Ippei is facing
• With the Paris Olympics coming up this year, an odd tradition has come back on the streets of the City of Love: waiters holding trays of water and running over a mile.
• I have to give something to the Euro crowd, so why is Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit heading to the US to play American football for the Kansas City Chiefs?
• And it can’t be a sports section without a mention of March Madness. Although some of you may know Caitlin Clark tearing up the Women’s bracket, players from North Carolina State and the University of California, Irvine are wearing hijabs to give inspiration to Muslim women aspiring to play Basketball

Lifestyle

• For those grass touchers, a reminder that a once in a generation Total Solar Eclipse is hitting the US very soon! (source: NYT (paywall)) What’s interesting though, is that new technology has allowed blind or visually impaired people to view the eclipse (not paywall)
• There is a reason why I don’t think news should get curated by AI.
• The Bachelor is having its first Asian lead, and it matters a lot for representation in media.
• Holy crap, guys I just found this thing called a “Minecraft Civ server” and supposedly it’s like if r/place was actually in Minecraft oh my god

Internet Zone

• Tom Scott’s Lateral podcast is a gem — but having Sam Reich, Ashley Hamer, and Adam Savage on the same episode is crazy.
• Another reminder that Jet Lag: The Game is currently playing Hide and Seek in Switzerland — with the finale coming now
• Author and tuberculosis activist introduces the first Crash Course lecture, which unsurprisingly, is about tuberculosis. Don’t get me wrong, it is very good though, well animated, well researched and worth a great watch.
• It might be not so good to edit like MrBeast anymore. Overstimulation is getting out of hand.
• Been hearing a lot about BetterHelp lately? Take it from someone who’s in therapy right now — maybe not so good of an idea. (Well, they also won’t take my health insurance either, so that’s another reason…)

Poll of the Week

Last week, I asked you about who you’d vote for president in the Uniteed States. I don’t think it’s worth showing the graph for this though, I think it’d be pretty polarized and everyone wouldn’t want to look at it.

This week, I want to look at something way more lighthearted.

Seriously Not April Fools Cry for Help

A piece by my friend Jenna, The World Felt Hard Today, a mandala portrait.

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. As you know, this newsletter is one of the few places where you can read independent journalism, we appreciate the community’s support, but we always appreciate financial contributions where applicable.

Alright, I’m done with the serious journalism jokes. I hope you get that being “a reputable Civ news source”, the joke this year was to take out the “Civ” in this regard.

A special shoutout to Cosmojynx for nearly sussing out this year’s April Fools prank, and hkl, Shadowvdark and Ahme63 for bringing the idea into my head nearly two months ago. I hope this joke isn’t as terrible as I thought in my head.

For those who are actually clicking the links or paying attention to stuff:

• I’ve tried to keep links to news articles as paywall-free as possible, so that usually means using links to AP News or NPR, but there’s a good variety of news sources in there. Although, I didn’t use right-leaning sources, sorry conservatives.
• Every picture used was public domain, usually sourced from Wikimedia

Speaking of which, a general shoutout to the following news sources/newsletters I follow for these kinds of things and were somewhat helpful in preparing this week’s incredibly massive (and mostly like skimmed) joke:

• WBUR’s newsletters:
  • On Point, an adaptation of their award winning radio show
  • The Pick Me Up, “A little bit of good news to spread cheer throughout the Winter”
  • Cognoscenti, thoughtful commentaries and essays (yes, it’s op-eds).
• Complexly’s “We’re Here” newsletter, the official newsletter of Nerdfighteria but is more of a newsletter that’s a wholesome thread of good stuff they’re doing
• Colin & Samir’s Publish Press, a breakdown of the online creator economy
• Tom Scott’s newsletter, which now that he’s """retired""", is mostly focused on cool stuff around the internet
• npr.org, yes, that’s right, they offer news articles and not just on the radio.
• For news that’s more global and not insular to the US, it’s worth it to check out the Council on Foreign Relations, the AP news, and probably most obvious of all, the BBC

Now, don’t worry if you guys were actually looking for real Civ news, a proper newsletter will probably become available within the next couple of days. I hope you can forgive this stupid of a joke.

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