I once described the following conundrum to my therapist. My wife and children are all at least part Samoan and (like most people) they love the beach. I'm obsessed with watching surfing movies, I enjoy being on or in the water, I own a kayak, I walk my beagles along a concrete waterfront, I even love the song Sandy from Grease. But I can't stand the beach itself because I hate sand. If I'm ever dragged to the beach, I'm wearing jeans and shoes. To find common ground with my family (and most of humanity), I wanted to get over my sand-phobia. My therapist's response: "Oh god, I hate sand too." It was probably our shortest session ever. Either way, we're both in the minority. People love sand. In fact, some people love it so much that they steal it. That might sound weird, but consider this. "Sand mining is the world's largest extraction industry because sand is a main ingredient in concrete, and the global construction industry has been soaring for decades. Every year the world uses up to 50 billion metric tons of sand, according to a United Nations Environment Program report. The only natural resource more widely consumed is water." And when resources are in demand, you can bet not everyone will play nice in the sandbox. Scientific American: Inside the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand.

2

Delayed Reaction

"Bursts of gunfire, reports a teacher had been shot, then a desperate call from a student trapped with the gunman could – and should – all have prompted a drive to stop the bloodshed far sooner, the Critical Incident Review released Thursday says. Instead, it took 77 minutes from when the 18-year-old shooter walked into Robb Elementary School until he was stopped. The carnage remains among the deadliest episodes in America’s ongoing scourge of campus shootings." Uvalde school massacre could have been stopped sooner, DOJ report finds. There's never been much doubt that the response (or lack thereof) compounded the tragedy in Uvalde. But the law enforcement response to automatic weapon powered school shootings isn't America's true scourge. It's the automatic weapon powered school shootings.

3

Take a Hike!

"Reconnecting children and nature may be the last cause in America that transcends political, religious, racial, and professional barriers; it brings people to the same table who usually do not want to be in the same room. Again and again, I have seen conservatives and liberals, physicians and educators, conservationists and developers, and many others work together for this cause. No one wants to be in the last generation where it’s considered normal for a child to lay under a tree in the woods." Richard Louv with an interesting essay in The MIT Press Reader: The Transformative Power of Nature on Children and Society. If we go outside, we might run into other people and realize they're no so bad after all.

4

I Have a Face for AI

"The model looks just like me, but something is unsettling about the picture. I’ve never done a shoot for this insurance company, but I recognise my features, and the pose, hair and make-up are similar to a shoot that I did back in 2018 for a Paris-based magazine. I take a picture of the ad but try to dismiss it from my mind. Maybe the model just looks like me and it’s all a coincidence? A few days later, I delete the image as it is making me feel uncomfortable." I had my face stolen by AI. (Luckily, I have a face for radio, not AI.)

5

Extra, Extra

She Persists: From street corner bullies to authoritarian leaders, the goal is to break you down, to exhaust you, to win the war of attrition until you can't focus on the fight anymore. Defeating thugs takes focus, stamina, and strength. You gotta give E. Jean Carroll—who faced yet another cross examination today—a ton of credit for not letting up. The New Yorker: The Donald Trump Doom Loop.

+ Let's Not Go Ballistic: "Pakistan has launched missile strikes into Iran, killing nine people, after Iran carried out strikes in Pakistan late on Tuesday."

+ Blinken in the Headlights: "Because of deep-fake technologies and other distortions that are made possible by social media, Blinken added, 'there are large swaths of the world' that 'don’t believe Oct. 7 actually happened — they don’t believe that Hamas slaughtered men, women and children, that it executed parents in front of their kids, that it executed kids in front of their parents, that it burned families alive. They don’t believe it.'" NYT's Thomas Friedman chats with Antony Blinken, who understands the need to answer the horrific attacks on Oct 7 and also says, "what we’re seeing every single day in Gaza is gut-wrenching, and the suffering we’re seeing among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart." Blinken is a good guy doing a good job, but with a nearly impossible task. Blinken’s Search for Humanity in the Gaza War. Among the reasons the task is nearly impossible: Bibi. Netanyahu says he has told US he opposes Palestinian state in any postwar scenario.

+ A Battle of Willis: Judge sets hearing on Trump co-defendant's 'romantic relationship' allegations against Georgia DA Fani Willis. This could be a big deal. It could be complete nonsense. It's definitely gonna get sordid. Like this: Fulton DA accuses colleague’s wife of ‘interfering’ with Trump probe.

+ A Battle of Willis: "It's broadly understood that economic well-being influences electoral outcomes. By the same token, however, political affiliation influences the responses that Republicans, in particular, give when they're asked about the economy. So asking about personal finances rather than the broader economy can reveal optimism not seen in consumer-sentiment polls." And when you ask it that way, Americans are actually pretty happy with their finances.

6

Bottom of the News

"The company has tweaked the disclaimer to add language that says Incognito mode won't change how websites collect people's data." Google now admits it (and others) could collect data in Chrome's Incognito mode. (I swear I thought a glory hole was the void left behind when one doesn't live up to one's potential.)

+ German Man Breaks Record For World’s Fastest Time To Drink A Cup Of Coffee. "Von Meibom makes quick work of the cuppa, smashing it in just 3.12 seconds, .05 seconds faster than the previous record." (Wait, that's considered fast? I could down a quart of Americano and still have a couple seconds left over to open a few tabs.)