Extra, Extra
Divided We Fall: On July 4th, Americans once again celebrated independence. But this time, it was from each other. Conservatives go to red states and liberals go to blue as the country grows more polarized.
+ Are You Pulling My Legacy? Now that affirmative action is out, “a civil rights group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard University, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni.” (Hopefully this won’t hinder my plan to leave my kids my English major in my will.)
+ Hanging on By a Thread: “Instagram’s new Threads app, a Twitter competitor, isn’t supposed to launch until July 6th, but the web interface went live for a few hours today for everyone to explore.” (The one thing I’ll never be able to forgive Elon for is making me root for Zuckerberg.) Can any new Twitter competitor replace what’s being lost? I’ve tried them all. I wonder. The Verge: So where are we all supposed to go now? (Maybe offline?)
+ The Vend is Nigh: “After calling for an ambulance and rubbing his knuckles on the man’s sternum to wake him (this didn’t work), Quashie punched some buttons on the vending machine to get a pack of Narcan nasal spray. He pushed one dose into the man’s nose, and then, when that didn’t seem to revive him, another. The unconscious man finally stirred awake.” New York’s First Narcan Vending Machine Is Working.
+ Agent of Chaos: “More than 1,500 lobbyists in the US are working on behalf of fossil-fuel companies while at the same time representing hundreds of liberal-run cities, universities, technology companies and environmental groups that say they are tackling the climate crisis.” Double agents: fossil-fuel lobbyists work for US groups trying to fight climate crisis.
+ Dramatic Pause “At a time when lawmakers and parents are seeking to restrict what can and cannot be taught in classrooms, many teachers are seeing efforts to limit what can be staged in their auditoriums.” NYT: It’s Getting Hard to Stage a School Play Without Political Drama. (We’re going backwards.)
+ You Don’t Know Jackpot: “A new class of niche celebrities have turned the once-solitary experience of gambling at casino slot machines into a spectator sport with millions of viewers and fan camaraderie. Using monopods or videographers to film the action, the players spend hours talking audiences through the highs and lows of jackpots and losses.” WSJ (Gift Article): How to Make Money by Losing $300,000 a Year on Slot Machines. “It’s fun to watch somebody else play with their money while you’re sitting on your couch drinking a beer.” (Someone should really tell these folks about television…)
