Welcome to the Metaverse

It’s poised to be the next stop on your online migration, more immersive and multi-dimensional than the linear experiences you’ve had to date.

Your identity is your avatar. Virtual reality tools like glasses and gloves are under development to provide a richer, deeper digital life. 

What the metaverse represents is everyman’s version of the space travel favored by today’s billionaires. The first Japanese billionaire has just returned from his space voyage, having followed Musk and Bezos on their test runs to escape Earth in the age of catastrophic climate change.

Most of us are not and will never be billionaires, nor will we visit outer space, but all of can go to the metaverse. Think of it as a sort of Wally’s World from “National Lampoon Vacation” right at your fingertips. 

Facebook is counting on you doing just that, as it transforms itself into “Meta.” The giant social network is buying up companies that can aid this transition, and also shutting down pages like that of an artist who had been using the term “metaverse” for a decade. (Zuckerberg’s spaceship later apologized and reinstated her page.)

Virtual living has received a huge boost during the pandemic, of course, as we’ve all been more or less locked down and isolated from each other in real life. I couldn’t do what I do, for example — publish daily essays and collated headlines to an audience without the existing web, including good old Facebook, and I’m grateful for that access. 

But soon I’ll apparently be coming to you via my avatar, which I assure you will be younger and handsomer than its namesake.

And it won’t have wispy white hair either.

Then again, each new step as we edge ourselves further into simulated reality and away from the physical world gives me pause. There is still — and always will be — advantages to the actual sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch of the real world that technology, no matter how advanced, cannot replicate.

At least not for me.

Then again, the metaverse could be the thing that changes my mind, so bring it on!

TODAY’s NEWS:

• Most of the World’s Vaccines Likely Won’t Prevent Infection From Omicron — They do seem to offer significant protection against severe illness, but the consequences of rapidly spreading infection worry many public health experts. (NYT)

• New York City seeks federal help as U.S. braces for record amount of cases with omicron wave (WP)

• Most Covid Infections May Soon Be Breakthroughs. Here’s What That Means. — Omicron means many more people will soon test positive.  (NYT)

• Dow plunges 600 points as omicron fears seize global markets (WP)

• Moderna booster shot should provide ‘good level of protection’ against omicron, vaccine-maker says (NYT)

• Stocks, Oil Prices Fall on New Covid-19 Curbs (WSJ)

• Israel to ban travel to US, Canada over omicron variant (AP)

• U.S. health officials urged Americans to get booster shots, wear masks and be careful if they travel over the winter holidays, as the Omicron variant raged across the world and was set to take over as the dominant strain in the United States. (Reuters)

• U.K. Weighing Lockdown Amid an Omicron Wave and Political Turmoil (NYT)

• With Christmas in the balance, nations eye UK omicron surge (AP)

• Omicron may be less risky for each of us — but more risky for all of us. (Vox)

• Lawmakers, business leaders raise alarms about federal aid as omicron cases rise (WP)

• NHL stops cross-border games, shuts down 7th team (AP)

• ‘A Lot of Uncertainty’: Covid Surge Puts Many Americans on Edge About Traveling (NYT)

• Sarah Palin, who had COVID earlier this year, says she'll get vaccinated "over my dead body." (HuffPost)

• Whiplash on U.S. Vaccine Mandate Leaves Employers ‘Totally Confused’ (NYT)

• ‘It is embarrassing’: CDC struggles to track Covid cases as Omicron looms (Politico)

• Humanity should not test whether Antarctica’s ice will hold out (Edit Bd/WP)

• Inflation squeezes holiday budgets for low-income shoppers (AP)

• The Dubai World Trade Center will become a crypto zone and regulator for cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets, the Dubai Media Office said, part of efforts to attract new business as regional economic competition heats up. (Reuters)

• Egypt jails regime critic and hero of revolution for 5 years (Financial Times)

• Three retired generals warned that rogue military units may follow Trump or a Trump-like figure if there's another insurrection, which could provoke an all-out civil war. [HuffPost] 

• Himalayan Glaciers Melting at Furious Rate, Study Shows (WSJ)

• Joe Manchin Kills the Build Back Better Bill — How will the country ever address the enduring market failures, glaring inequality, and big social-safety-net gaps that the plan was designed to tackle? (New Yorker)

• How Biden’s fragile alliance with Manchin unraveled (WP)

• A bid by the White House to dramatically boost electric vehicle tax credits also hit a major roadblock when Manchin said he would not support the $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill. (Reuters)

• The White House ripped Sen. Joe Manchin in an uncharacteristically sharp statement after the West Virginia Democrat went on Fox News to say he wouldn't support President Joe Biden's Build Back Better social spending legislation. Manchin's rejection appears to doom the measure and Biden's White House wasn't having it, accusing Manchin of breaking his word. Fellow Dems are furious. Progressives say "told you." [HuffPost]

• Manchin Rejects Landmark Legislation, Putting Biden’s Climate Goals at Risk (NYT)

• Manchin's biggest public gripes about Build Back Better focus on cost. But in private, he moaned to Democratic colleagues that parents may waste their child tax credit money on drugs. [HuffPost]

• Manchin pitches health reforms into uncertainty (Politico)

• Millions to lose child benefit as Biden social spending bill in doubt (Financial Times)

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will move ahead with a vote on the Build Back Better planearly next year despite opposition from the Democratic senator, and will also take up voting rights legislation. (Reuters)

• Nuclear Power Has a Second Chance to Prove Itself (WSJ)

• Tortured to death: Myanmar mass killings revealed (BBC)

• ‘Nothing will help’: Tunisians trapped in poverty lose hope (Guardian)

• Afghan music students escaped the Taliban and are beginning their new lives abroad (NPR)

• With hunger, poverty growing in Afghanistan, Biden pressured to ease sanctions (WP)

• The Afghans America Left Behind — The U.S. promised protection to the locals it relied on during the war. When it withdrew, it abandoned thousands to the Taliban. (New Yorker)

• Afghan evacuees ponder future as U.S. empties camp sites (Politico)

• Islamic countries are pledging to launch a humanitarian trust fund for Afghanistan (NPR)

• Along Afghanistan’s ‘highway of death,’ the bombs are gone but suffering has deepened (WP)

• What is the metaverse? — From virtual versions of ourselves to augmented reality, big brands like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft are creating technology to develop the metaverse. But what actually is it? (BBC)

• White House Warns Supply Chain Shortages Could Lead Americans To Discover True Meaning Of Christmas (The Onion)

TODAY’S LYRICS

“Pick Me Up on Your Way Down”

Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard

Songwriter: Harlan Howard

You were mine for just a while

Now your putting on the style

And you never once looked back

To your home across the track

You're the gossip of the town

But my heart can still be found

Where you tossed it on the ground

Pick me up on your way down

Pick me up on your way down

When your blue and all alone

When their glamor starts to bore you

Come back where you belong

When you learn these things are true

I'll be waiting here for you

When you tumble to the ground

Pick me up on your way down

They have changed your attitude

Made you haughty and so rude

Your new friends can take the blame

Underneath you're still the same

You may be their pride and joy

But they'll find another toy

When your new love can't be found

Pick me up on your way down

Pick me up on your way down

When your blue and all alone

When their glamor starts to bore you

Come back where you belong

When you learn these things are true

I'll be waiting here for you

When you tumble to the ground

Pick me up on your way down