An odd family of eccentrics prone to violence and overt sexuality is unleashed on Americans. Looking back, especially compared to the current-day offerings of prestige TV like “Game of Thrones”, “Orange is the New Black” and “Black Mirror”, “ The Addams Family” would be considered a sweet, wholesome experience from a bygone era. 


But what that kooky TV show got right, and what we seem to struggle with now, is acceptance of “the other” and of our own “otherness.” As someone who grew up watching the original show and subsequent movies, “The Addams Family” personified what it means to have a deep sense of self-acceptance and self-love. 


Escapist Magazine in their piece “The Ugly Americans: The Addams Family and The Munster” observed: 

“In a note of irony frequently raised in regard to the show, attempts to show the Addams supposed”weirdness” in contrast to the”normal” image of the All-American Family instead made them look rather preferable and even”ideal”(in a progressive sense) to subsequent generations who made the series a classic in syndication. Whereas other TV dads were stern authority figures whose role was to gently discipline their misbehaving children and keep them on the straight and narrow, Gomez (and Morticia) generally had nothing but enthusiasm, support and encouragement for Wednesday and Pugsley’s self-expression– even when it involved trying to mortally-wound one another.”

As we enter into the Halloween season, let’s all take a page from their spell book. Remove the mask and be unapologetically you. 

The Addams Family - Moonbathing

Friday, September 18, 1964. “The Addams Family” makes its debut on network television.

Unapologetically Addams

Condensed

Yesterday the first prototypes dropped of meat that’s actually made from air, produced by Air Protein, a startup in the Bay Area using the same technology that H-town’s own NASA experimented with in the 60s to figure out how to feed astronauts up in space. This meat alternative creates protein out of the air we breathe by fermenting CO2. 

Now you might be like, but Black Sheep—what are you saying—“That I should eat air??!”

Hell no, unless you want to. But we ARE hungering for answers.

Technology is running faster than ever to keep up with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that should keep us up at night—and do. It means even the meat alternative industry is looking around and saying: “Are we really solving the problem? Or are we just using more land to create a a protein we feel good about? Are we about the real solutions or are we out here virtue-signaling?”

“We need arable land. And so one of the things that we solve by making food at Air Protein is making food that requires essentially no arable land.” — Lisa Dyson, CEO of Air Protein

Across the board, from digital advertising to nonprofit fundraising to community organizing—we’re seeing that people have a huge and unstoppable appetite for seeing their impact come to life in a tangible way. 

We know we’re running out of time. And we’re restless as HELL to change that.

That means that we’ve got our eye on how technology is used for good and how it can be used questionably. Just this month, the ACLU is suing out several government agencies for not sharing information on how exactly they are using face surveillance technology. 

As digital citizens, it’s our job to stay informed about how technology is being used. 

That’s why the ACLU is demanding that we find out how the government is planning on using this technology—and it doesn’t stop at face recognition. “Remote biometric identification” exists, too. That means you can know identify someone even if they’re walking away. But can you?

The ACLU says no—in a recent study, Amazon’s “Rekognition” technology linked 27 New England professional athletes to criminal database mugshots.

"Technology has outpaced our civil rights law" — Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts.

The fact is, there’s still so much we don’t know about tech. We’re at the very brink of new and astonishing discoveries and we have no idea how those will impact us as humans.

This is the first time in history that a U.S. judged approved a warrant for an officer to search through the GEDmatch database while on a case.

This is the first time we’re seeing the tech industry move speedily ahead with AI, at such a high velocity that we’re now concerned—is Silicon Valley burning too bright?

A report submitted to Congress this month names AI as the #1 area of growth for securing our nation: “We are in a strategic competition. AI will be at the center. The future of our national security and economy are at stake.” 

We are at a precipice where the very thing that can protect us can also put our civil liberties at risk. We need to pay attention. We can’t be distracted. 

This technology affects humans, what to know in 2020

Tech updates like “Meat Made Out of Air”, “DNA Warrants” and Other Things

Meat Made Out of Air, DNA Warrants and Other Things 

What To Know About Technology Right Now