Long weekend news drop and Videos of the week
Why Home Runs Are Bad for Baseball The nonstop dingers are a hit with the fans, but at what cost to the sport? (Walrus)
How Food Banks Succeeded and What They Need Now America’s charitable food banks take pride in what they’ve accomplished over the past year, and the numbers justify it: They distributed roughly 50 percent more food in 2020 compared with 2019, a considerable portion to first-time visitors. They served millions of people even as they dealt with supply-chain interruptions and health risks for their volunteers and employees. (New York Times)
China’s Commodities Binge Makes America’s Future More Expensive America requires steel, cement, and tarmacadam for roads and bridges, and cobalt, lithium, and rare earths for batteries. Above all, it needs copper—and lots of it. Copper will go into the electric vehicles that President Biden has said he’ll buy for the government fleet, in the charging stations to power them, and in the cables connecting new wind turbines and solar farms to the grid. But when it comes to these commodities—and copper in particular—Washington is one step behind Beijing, who got to all the raw materials first. (Businessweek)
Brutalist buildings aren’t unlovable. You’re looking at them wrong. An architectural style characterized by unfinished concrete, recessed windows, top-heavy design, and a proclivity for bulk and heft, Brutalism proliferated around the world in the mid-20th century and found a particularly welcoming home in the D.C. area, which boasts many examples of the style. At the time, the U.S. government was pouring funds into the public sector, and concrete — convenient, inexpensive and versatile — would give shape to public housing, schools, libraries, government offices and more. (Washington Post)
Dark patterns, the tricks websites use to make you say yes: How design can manipulate and coerce you. Dark patterns have for years been tricking internet users into giving up their data, money, and time. But if some advocates and regulators get their way, they may not be able to do that for much longer. There’s now a growing movement to ban dark patterns, and that may well lead to consumer protection laws and action as the Biden administration’s technology policies and initiatives take shape. (Vox)
The Beauty of 78.5 Million Followers How social media stars like Addison Rae gave the cosmetics industry a makeover. As beauty has become a pop phenomenon, a radical change in the perception of the cosmetics business has also taken place. In our new virtual society, the same beauty industry that was once maligned has been embraced as a universal good. Beauty companies are lauded for providing us with tools of self-expression and celebrating the human desire to adorn the face using something other than the tricks of social media (filters, lighting, Facetune). And many individuals and companies within the industry have capitalized on this impression. (New York Times)
American Special Ops Forces Are Everywhere Within the span of a few decades, the United States has utterly transformed its military, or at least the military that is actively fighting. This has taken place with little fanfare and little public scrutiny. U.S. Special Operators were involved in the successful hunt for the drug lord Pablo Escobar, the subject of Killing Pablo, and they conducted the raid that ended the career of Osama bin Laden, the subject of The Finish. By seeking out dramatic military missions, I have chronicled the movement of Special Ops from the wings to center stage. (The Atlantic)
The Best, Loudest, and Filthiest of AC/DC, According to Angus Young With 18 albums, dozens of songs with “rock” in the title, and several lineup changes due to tragic deaths and less-tragic arrests, you know what you’re getting into before pressing play on AC/DC: It’s going to be loud, the finger-lickin’ riffs will give you blunt-force trauma, and the double entendres will make even the most prolific of lotharios blush. Don’t like their style? Think they’re a little too lowbrow? Who cares. Their longevity has made them one of the most poignant stories in rock music, and they created one of the best-selling albums of all-time, second only to Thriller. (Vulture)
Etnies 'Amygdala' - ft. Brandon Semenuk Brandon Semenuk’s first etnies pro shoe, the Semenuk Pro, launches globally today with his latest video project AMYGDALA. Located in the brain, a human’s amygdala literally represents their core fear system. This video makes viewers wonder if Semenuk chooses to ignore his amygdala or if he simply doesn’t have one.
REAWAKEN - Marcel Hunt - My passion reawakened, my meaning for living recharged, refuelled and reignited. Age is just a number, your dreams don’t have to die at 30, sometimes they REAWAKEN.
John Worthington's "Dystopia" Part High praise from Cardiel kicks off John’s ruthless transition tear. Sit back and watch the deep ends turn to dust.
Andy Anderson - Seen Him - Powell-Peralta Presents: "SEEN HIM" a Zenga Bros Film