Sunday Open Thread: Kanye And Twix, The Case Against Porsche, A Blackbird Flies In Ohio
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Housekeeping: Meet The New Name, Same As The Old Name
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Kanye’s Twix Statement: False, But True, But Unhelpful
The internet is aflutter regarding Kanye West’s claim, repeated a few times in the past two weeks, that “they” are making Twix larger in an attempt to make “us” fat. It has to be noted that “Ye” is not aging any better than your humble author; he was once quite handsome but now looks like any other forty-fifty-something out there. He’s also never expressed himself in a manner with which people could be entirely comfortable. I don’t think he’s mentally ill. I think that, like many artists, he has some remarkable insights that are not applicable to the world as a whole.
But is he wrong? This is worth a brief discussion, because the “Twix beef”, oddly enough, does have broader implications.
Assertion Zero: “They are doubling the size/making the Twix bigger.” Insofar as Ye refined his statement from “doubling the size” to merely “making [it] bigger”, any fact-checking or contravention about the statement should ethically engage only with the latter assertion.
Fact-Check One: The idiots at Complex were eager to fact-check Ye and have demonstrated that the Twix have gone from 60 grams to 50grams, for a current package size of 1.79 ounces, thus “DEBOONKING” this “conspiracy theory”.
Additional Fact Two: Although the original two-pack Twix package has dropped to 1.79 ounces, it was joined in stores some time ago by a 4-pack “Share Size” of 3.02 ounces, as well as a “King Size” in some flavors where the bars are physically larger. Strictly speaking, the “Share Size” is just two Twix two-packs in a single package, but this isn’t made clear anywhere you look; sometimes it’s referred to as 4 Twixes on the package, sometimes not.
Any sane journalist, or any sane person period, would easily understand what Kanye is trying to say here, namely: if you go into a store, you’re highly likely to encounter the 4-pack of Twix instead of the 2-pack. Strictly speaking, the Twix are not themselves twice as large. Practically speaking, they’re trying to sell you double the Twix. The fact that this is marketed in some areas as “share size” means very little. I’ve worked in tech for two decades and never have I seen anyone “share” the “share size” or the “king size” M&Ms or Reese’s or what have you.
So Ye is wrong. But he’s right. Which seems to be an oddly common theme with “fact checkers”:
Another example: President Biden checking his watch multiple times during a “dignified transfer” of dead servicemen. USA Today was quick to claim that no such thing had happened… then they admitted that it might have happened once… then they admitted it happened multiple times. By then, of course, the True Believers had moved on, satisfied that this unpleasant claim had been “DEBOONKED”.
Partisan journalism is older than the printing press but more and more of what we read now seems to be aimed at nothing more that “Is it good for my side?” Which leads to a sort of binary chart:
(is_true) + (is_desirable_for_my_team_that_it_be_true) = True
(is_false) + (is_desireable_for_my_team_that_it_be_false) = False
(is_false) + (is_desirable_for_my_team_that_it_be_true) = Not Newsworthy
(is_true) + (is_desirable_for_my_team_that_it_be_false) = “True But Unhelpful”
The last one, “True but Unhelpful”, is Matt Taibbi’s arch term for facts that are undeniably correct but which don’t serve the narrative. Examples: “COVID-19 vaccines caused heart problems”, “The Azov Battalion uses Nazi imagery on their uniforms”. When possible, these situations are ignored. When not possible, they are addressed in the media by talking about “nuance” — “Yes, the Canadian parliament honored a solider who served in the Waffen SS, but it’s very nuanced.” Alternately, you’ll see a “fact check” on the literal statement, rather than what it means, e.g. “The picture shows Joe Biden looking down at his arm, not necessarily at his wristwatch.”
And that’s what Kanye got from Complex regarding The Twix Question. One has to think that “Jesus Walks”-era Kanye would have gotten a sympathetic, in-depth look at what’s actually happening with Twix. But he’s drifted away from Team Blue — and towards a team that appears to be entirely his own! — so he gets the literal interpretation. There’s good journalism, and there’s “gotcha” journalism. There’s thoughtful journalism, and there’s journalism that stops the minute it is satisfied by something that serves the narrative, regardless if that’s the final or actual truth of the matter. We are well served by the former, and degraded by the latter, irrespective of target. You know, of course, that here at ACF we are Servants Of The Light, and therefore my official ruling on this matter is: They’re making the Twix bigger.
What’s wrong with PORSH, anyway?
I got the above message from a fellow Ohio Mopar dirtbag the other day, and rather than respond to him individually, I thought it might be worthwhile to reiterate why your humble author is so reluctant to say nice things about the “wizards of Stuttgart” or whatever Car and Driver is calling them nowadays.