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A conservative concentration of media power
Margaret Sullivan with an astute and sobering take on the consolidation of conservative media power:
In 2020, only a tiny fraction of Americans got news from TikTok. These days, that number has soared to one in five.
For young adults, those figures are much higher, with almost half of adults under 30 getting news there, according to the Pew Research Center.
But who will own that hugely influential purveyor of information?
As with so much of American media – from television networks to some of the largest newspapers – the answer is shaping up to be as simple and short as a TikTok video: the ultra-rich.
As President Trump moved this week to clear the path to sell the platform’s US assets to a group of American investors, the metastasizing reality of media-by-oligarchy threatened to become even more extreme.
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The story behind the blinking guy meme
A random moment made Drew Scanlon famous, and uses the fame to raise money for multiple sclerosis.
An avid cyclist who enjoys rides through Marin, he’s participated in a charity bike ride for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for 10 years. At this point, he’s raised more than $300,000 for research into the disease, which disrupts the central nervous system and can result in symptoms ranging from memory difficulties to chronic pain.
“I’m continually floored by how many people still react so generously to it,” he said of the meme, citing a $5,000 donation this year thanks to promotion through his social media channels (he has 81,500 followers on X, and the domain blinkingguy.com redirects to his donation page).
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Drones tracking shoplifters
Is sending a drone after a shoplifter really the best thing?
“Instead of a 911 call [that triggers the drone], it’s an alarm call,” says Keith Kauffman, a former police chief who now directs Flock’s drone program. “It’s still the same type of response.”
Kauffman walked through how the drone program might work in the case of retail theft: If the security team at a store like Home Depot, for example, saw shoplifters leave the store, then the drone, equipped with cameras, could be activated from its docking station on the roof.
“The drone follows the people. The people get in a car. You click a button,” he says, “and you track the vehicle with the drone, and the drone just follows the car.”
The video feed of that drone might go to the company’s security team, but it could also be automatically transmitted directly to police departments.
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Sushi’s rise in the USA
Sushi’s popularity continues to grow.
Once a small niche of the seafood business, sushi is now the industry’s growth leader.
Most of that growth is not happening in $300-per-head omakase restaurants (though those are proliferating). It is happening in gas stations and big-box stores, bowling alleys and stadiums, U.S. Army commissaries and amusement parks.
Retail sushi, also called “deli sushi” because of its usual location in supermarkets, is one of the fastest-growing segments in supermarkets overall, according to Circana, a market research firm. In 2024, retail sushi was a $2.8 billion business, up 7 percent from 2023
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Robot umpires are coming to the Major League
It was only a matter of time: robot umpires are coming to Major League Baseball.
Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter — signaled by tapping their helmet or cap — and a team retains its challenge if successful. Reviews will be shown as digital graphics on outfield videoboards.
Maybe it’ll cut down on ejections?
Adding the robot umps is likely to cut down on ejections. MLB said 61.5% of ejections among players, managers and coaches last year were related to balls and strikes, as were 60.3% this season through Sunday. The figures include ejections for derogatory comments, throwing equipment while protesting calls and inappropriate conduct.
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Treat anxiety by microdosing LSD
More research suggesting that LSD can treat anxiety based disorders.
A rigorous new study finds that a single dose of LSD can ease anxiety and depression for months.
The study involved 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a disabling form of anxiety that affects about 1 in 10 people over the course of a year.
Participants who got lower doses of LSD (25 or 50 micrograms) did no better than those who got a placebo. But people who received higher doses (100 or 200 micrograms) responded quickly, a team reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Paul Hubbard creator of the huddle
In 1884, a deaf football player created the huddle.
During a tight game in the fall of 1894, Paul Hubbard—quarterback for the Gallaudet University Bison, and known as “the Eel” for his canny maneuvers—made a simple move that changed sports forever: Concerned that his hand signs were tipping off his plans to the opposing defense, Hubbard summoned his offense and directed them to form a circle around him, creating what many consider the first football huddle.
