Until Debt Do We Part
Prenups. And Editing Your Cholesterol.
Prenuptial agreements are usually associated with wealthy couples, at least one of whom is looking to protect their assets. For example, Britney Spears just signed one ensuring that, upon divorce, her new husband Sam Asghari will not receive any of Spears' multi-million dollar fortune earned before the wedding date. (Toxic!) But prenups are no longer legal tools deployed just for richer people trying to maintain wealth. They're increasingly being recommended for poorerfolks who want to make sure that if they get divorced, their exes won't saddle them with a debt. Michael Waters in The New Yorker: Prenups Aren’t Just for Rich People Anymore.
2. World Wide Webb
"One of the most eye-popping images released on Tuesday depicts what looks to be cosmic cliffs, valleys and mountains — albeit with mountains that stretch to seven light-years in height." Hopes were high for the first images that would be returned from the James Webb telescope, and it didn't disappoint. The Universe is officially taking selfies. NASA's James Webb telescope captures groundbreaking images of distant galaxies.
3. Edited to Be Clear
"According to the company, that tiny edit should be enough to permanently lower a person’s levels of 'bad' LDL cholesterol, the fatty molecule that causes arteries to clog and harden with time. The patient in New Zealand had an inherited risk for extra-high cholesterol and was already suffering from heart disease. However, the company believes the same technique could eventually be used on millions of people in order to prevent cardiovascular disease." Edits to a cholesterol gene could stop the biggest killer on earth. "In a first, a patient in New Zealand has undergone gene-editing to lower their cholesterol. It could be the beginning of new era in disease prevention."
4. You Ain't Nothing But a Hound, Dog
"In facility inspections that began in July 2021, after Envigo acquired the site, federal officials have documented what they described as a lengthy history of mistreatment and endangerment to the beagles at the site, where the dogs often lived with a buildup of inches of feces and food waste, court documents show." On one paw, this is the story of dogs that were kept in an abusive environment before either dying or being sold for research. On the other paw, it's a story about a rescue and the availability of a whole lotta beagles (I've already got two...). NYT (Gift Article): 4,000 Beagles Are Being Rescued From a Virginia Facility. Now They Need New Homes. (... even though my neighbors probably think I have 4,000...)
5. Extra, Extra
Born to Be Wild: "Trump's purpose was to mobilize a crowd and how do you mobilize a crowd in 2020? With millions of followers on Twitter, President Trump knew exactly how to do it. At 1:42 a.m. on December 19, 2020, shortly after the last participants left the unhinged meeting, Trump sent out the tweet with his explosive invitation.' The tweet, Jamie Raskin said, repeated the election fraud lie and claimed it was 'statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 election.' The tweet then went on to call for a 'big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!'" The Jan 6 hearings are back. Today, they are explaining how Trump summoned the mob. Here's the latest. Meanwhile, Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone corroborated virtually all of the revelations from previous witnesses, including former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. (So far, there hasn't been one bit of testimony to contradict what we saw with our own eyes.)
+ Baby on Board: "A woman in Texas who got a $200-plus ticket for driving alone in the HOV lane is battling the fine using a novel argument based on Texas’ abortion laws and the recent Supreme Court decision: She’s saying her fetus was a passenger." Sounds crazy. But crazy is dominating legal circles these days. Vice: If a fetus is a person for the purposes of an HOV lane ticket, that has terrifying implications. And from NPR: Biden administration: Doctors must offer abortion if mom's life is at risk.
+ Tracks of My Tears: "Sir Mo Farah was brought to the UK illegally as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant, he has revealed. The Olympic star has told the BBC he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from Djibouti. His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin." Knighted track star Sir Mo Farah reveals he was trafficked to the UK as a child. Here is Mo Farah describing a call with his mom after years of separation. (I'm not crying. That's just my Farah faucet.)
+ Boar Off the Floor: Succession leads the Emmy nominations with 25. Ted Lasso and The White Lotus each earned 20. Here's the whole list. And some snubs and surprises.
+ Prime Mates: "Internal Amazon documents reveal how routinely the company measured workers’ performance in minute detail and admonished those who fell even slightly short of expectations. In a single year ending April 2020, the company issued more than 13,000 so-called 'disciplines' in one warehouse alone." Of course, most of the Amazon stories you're seeing today are news sites promoting Amazon's best Prime Day deals. Hard to cover a company when you have a financial affiliate deal with them...
6. Bottom of the News
"There were older couples and younger ones, gay, straight and nonbinary couples, couples of different races and from different places, all joining together to pay tribute to love." Hundreds of couples didn't have a wedding due to COVID - until now.
+ A headline that defines and entire era. US tourist survives fall into Mount Vesuvius after reaching for phone.
+ Jill Biden sorry for comparing Latinos to tacos.