Extra, Extra
If You Lie With Dogs, Someone Else Gets Fleas: “Springfield is a town on edge. It’s been five days since it was thrust into the national spotlight by baseless — and to many, racist — rumors of Haitian residents killing and eating wildlife and pets, and its economic comeback has been dramatically overshadowed by tensions that once rarely reached beyond city council meetings. The city has been forced to close schools, City Hall and other municipal buildings because of bomb threats and safety fears tied to the rumors, and Haitian immigrants are afraid to leave their homes because of anger directed at them. On Saturday, nearby Wittenberg University canceled all on-campus activities for the following day after receiving a threat of a potential shooting targeting the Haitian community.” Five days in Ohio: False immigrant rumors threaten to unravel an American town on the upswing. Meanwhile, what does JD Vance have to say about the damage his lies have done? “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
+ Fat Chance: I finally found a fitness level I’m willing to try to level up to. Healthy Fat. NPR: People who exercise have healthier belly fat, new study finds.
+ Algorithm and Blues: “After more than two hours of oral argument between TikTok and a group of content creators on one side, and the US government on the other, it remains uncertain how the judges may rule. Today wasn’t the slam dunk that TikTok needed as all three judges asked some very skeptical questions about the ByteDance relationship, but they didn’t let the government off easy, either.” TikTok just had the most important two hours of its life. (Now someone just needs to cut that into 15 second chunks so we can focus on it.)
+ Brawl in the Family: “The stakes and arc of the family’s struggles are Shakespearean and inspired the HBO drama Succession; the pettiness can sometimes seem Seinfeldian. The court battle is about money and power, but also whether Fox News should remain relentlessly partisan and right-wing as part of a business plan to yield the best results. Lachlan’s siblings appear to be less enamored of the hard-right line. His only brother, James, has become increasingly critical of the pro-Trump and often anti-news populism embraced by the network.” Rupert Murdoch is set to face his kids in court, with Fox News’ fate in the balance.
+ Lease Extension: “When his heart gave out and he died alone 30 years later, he was entitled to a burial with military honors. Instead, without his consent or his family’s knowledge, the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office gave his body to a state medical school, where it was frozen, cut into pieces and leased out across the country.” Cut up and leased out, the bodies of the poor suffer a final indignity in Texas.
+ Shirt Happens: “A man in Hong Kong has pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, becoming the first person to be convicted under the city’s controversial national security law known as Article 23.”
+ Bird Vision: “A shy yellow-eyed penguin has come out on top of one of New Zealand’s most contested competitions to win Bird of the Year.” Maybe the shyness was just an act.
