- This essay had me literally laughing out loud. “Cookie Monster has operated in plain sight for over fifty years, and no one has asked the obvious question: What is he?” – via @philplait
- It took just seven minutes to deploy the massive and intricate set for the Bad Bunny halftime show at Super Bowl LX and you can watch an amazing time-lapse video of the process. – via hiro.report
- Good news: Federal Judge Cynthia Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, ordered the restoration of public Philadelphia slavery exhibits and compared the administration’s effort to remove the panels to something out of the dystopian George Orwell novel 1984.
- Some wise words from Anil: It often takes more than one time before your idea actually resonates or sticks with the people you’re trying to reach.
- Crews search for 9 skiers missing after California avalanche near Lake Tahoe
Winter Olympics
- The newest Olympic sport goes by the name skimo, which is short for ski mountaineering.
- The president of the biggest soccer club in the Ukraine has announced a $200k+ donation to skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after he was banned from the Winter Olympics.
- Does US speed skater Jordan Stolz really eat pizza every day before training?
- Mac Forehand, the freestyle skiing Big Air silver medalist, reveals the process behind stomping a world’s first trick on the penultimate jump of the competition, which helped push the sport to new heights. (Click the image to view his jump!) – via Sports! with Rodger Sherman
- Higher-than-anticipated demand led to a condom supply shortage after organizers provided only four for each Olympian, compared to the thirty given to everyone competing at the Paris games.
- Meet the cameraman who skates backward to capture Olympic triumph and defeat.
None of This Is Normal:
- Reading this chilling account of how the current administration is abusing a repurposed Navy logistics program to rapidly expand its ability to hide people is enough to make anyone sick to the stomach, but ignorance is not an option these days. The bottom line is that the Department of Homeland Security is buying warehouses across the country to build out concentration camps for caging and deporting immigrants, and this program is allowing them to be operational in a matter of weeks.
- Speaking of terrible immigration policies, I give you a very rare 20+ thread post that is well worth reading.
- Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a rare and lethal toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs.
- “I don’t think we should allow the secret police to round people up and sort them by race.”
- In case you’re still on the fence about whether to use their service or read publications there, you can read about how Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters. – via Kottke
- The current administration is using $15,000,000 from USAID funds to pay for security for budget director Russ Vought for the year.