If you build it, they will come. Sometimes, they'll show up if even if you just establish the framework for a basic, non-binding, not entirely specific agreement to kick off official talks about building it. The deal is not quite shovel ready, but in an age when bipartisanship is absent and infrastructure week has been on the way for years, let's celebrate a step in the right direction (even if there are many deep potholes, dangerous tunnels, and decomposing bridges between here and our final destination.). Biden, bipartisan senators say they have framework infrastructure deal. From Biden: "They have my word, and I'll stick with what they proposed, and they've given me their word as well -- and where I come from, that's good enough for me." (If you believe that, I've got a slightly damaged bridge from the last five years for sale...)
2. Condo Collapse
"Lightning streaked the gray skies in Surfside Thursday afternoon as human and canine rescuers delicately picked their way through a pile of rubble nearly two stories high — the remains of a partial collapse of Champlain Towers South Condo, a 12-story building — hoping to hear the cries and scratches of survivors." Miami Herald: Condo collapse in Surfside kills at least one; search and rescue combing through rubble. Here's the lastest from CNN.
3. The Truth Hurts
"Nearly 150,000 Indigenous children were sent to the government-funded and church-run boarding schools, which were set up in the 19th century to assimilate them and operated until the late 1990s. Many children were forcibly separated from their families to be placed in the schools. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in a 2015 report that many of the students were subjected to physical and sexual abuse at the schools." WaPo: 751 unmarked graves found at former residential school for Indigenous children in Canada. This is at least the second such discovery.
4. A Lawyer Joke
He made "demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump." Rudy Giuliani suspended from practicing law in New York. This is going to come as a huge blow to all those clients currently clamoring for his legal services. (Luckily, he can still practice law in the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping.)
+ "This morning, with great solemnity and sadness, I am announcing that the House will be establishing a select committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Launches Select Committee To Probe Jan. 6 Insurrection. (It should not escape your continued attention that we were unable to come to a bipartisan agreement to get to the bottom of an attack on America's Capitol.)
5. Key Master Turns Gatekeeper
For a glimpse into the future, turn your gaze towards the Florida Keys. "The water is coming and we can’t stop it,” said Michelle Coldiron, mayor of Monroe county, which encompasses the Keys. 'Some homes will have to be elevated, some will have to be bought out. It’s very difficult to have these conversations with homeowners, because this is where they live. It can get very emotional.'" Florida Keys faces stark reality as seas rise.
6. Frisbee All That You Can Be
"McBeth has carved out a lucrative career in a niche sport, in part as an athlete and in part as an influencer. He isn’t alone in using this blueprint. Competitors in sports ranging from bowling to lacrosse have been able to amass riches by building their brands—and growing the games they love along the way." The Ringer: The Rise of the $10 Million Disc Golf Celebrity. (When this guy first told his parents he was going to be a frisbee golf player for a living, they probably both slipped a disc.)
7. Toxic
"Spears recalled one incident in which she didn't want to do an additional run of shows in Las Vegas. She felt relieved when her handlers said she didn't have to do the shows anymore but suspected there would be consequences. Days later, Spears said her therapist told her that he heard she was being uncooperative. She said he then changed her medication regimen." Britney Spears Asks Court To End Conservatorship, Detailing Its Control Over Her Life.
+ Here are all the shocking things Britney Spears revealed in court.
8. I Wear My Shun Glasses At Night
"The Biden administration has had to grapple for months with vaccine reluctance in red states, as Republican supporters of Donald Trump have proven more likely to shun the shot. With the threat of new variants and a national average of more than 200 deaths every day, combatting vaccine hesitancy has taken on new urgency." Vanity Fair: Vaccine Shunners Are Botching Biden’s COVID Target. (They're also just about the only ones still dying from this virus.)
9. Spain Wreck
"John McAfee, the eccentric tech mogul who made his fortune developing antivirus software, was found dead in a jail cell near Barcelona on Wednesday, just hours after Spain’s National Court ruled that he was to be extradited to the United States." The news of his death was first reported by El Pais, who said he died by suicide. (I’d love to see someone write a book on the media coverage of John Mcafee. He was clearly mentally ill. But clearly mentally ill people are rarely treated that way by the press. I’m guessing you can think of other examples.)
10. Bottom of the News
"Sports fans don’t watch games for mere entertainment. They watch partly because it allows them to experience the inconceivable. Surprise is key too. You never quite know what will happen next. The first toe was mailed to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ head office in 2006. It arrived in a plain envelope with no return address." The Team, the Fan, and the Severed Toes.
+ Experience: I swallowed one of my AirPods. (One of my beagles suggested this story.)