Road WarriorsThe Texas Wall, Weekend Whats, Feel Good Friday, And Solving Peanut Butter's oil on top problem."For well over an hour, the people of Llano — a town of about 3,400 deep in Texas Hill Country — approached the podium to speak out against abortion. While the procedure was now illegal across Texas, people were still driving women on Llano roads to reach abortion clinics in other states, the residents had been told. They said their city had a responsibility to 'fight the murders.'" Welcome to the frontlines of America's abortion wars. The voices in Llano probably sound extreme to you, and they are. But they're part of an ongoing religion v secular battle in which only one side has been really been fighting for the last few decades. They've got the Supreme Court, they've got momentum, and they're pushing the pedal to the metal on a highway near you. WaPo (Gift Article): Highways are the next antiabortion target. One Texas town is resisting. "Antiabortion advocates behind the measure are targeting regions along interstates and in areas with airports, with the goal of blocking off the main arteries out of Texas and keeping pregnant women hemmed within the confines of their antiabortion state. These provisions have already passed in two counties and two cities, creating legal risk for those traveling on major highways including Interstate 20 and Route 84, which head toward New Mexico, where abortion remains legal and new clinics have opened to accommodate Texas women. Several more jurisdictions are expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks. 'This really is building a wall to stop abortion trafficking,' said Mark Lee Dickson, the antiabortion activist behind the effort." For anyone who cares about this issue, the rubber hit the road a while ago. 2Let's Talk Shop"At 535,000 square feet of retail space, this Bass Pro is almost five times the size of the average Walmart. But even that number doesn’t quite capture its almost farcical grandeur ... the sales floor, is full of man-made streams and faux cypress trees dripping with decorative Spanish moss. The store’s motif is 'lost wilderness,' but I found that it conjured something even more distant: the old-school department store." The Atlantic (Gift Article): Retailers Bet Wrong on America’s Feelings About Stores. "The internet was supposed to kill in-person shopping. But have you been to a Bass Pro?" (So many big stores just sat back and watched the internet happen, without making any significant changes to the experience they offered. I basically took up kayaking so I'd have a reason to go to a Bass Pro superstore. It's the perfect place to be outdoorsy indoors.) 3Road Scholar"Waymo and Cruise have driven a combined total of 8 million driverless miles ... That includes more than 4 million in San Francisco since the start of 2023. And because California law requires self-driving companies to report every significant crash, we know a lot about how they’ve performed." We hear a lot on both sides of the (inevitable) move to self-driving cars. In Ars Technica Timothy Lee asks the one question that matters most. Are self-driving cars already safer than human drivers? Software can be buggy. But as buggy as the average driver you encounter on the road? 4Weekend WhatsWhat to Eat: You may disagree with some of my takes, but let me assure you that, when it comes to one topic in particular, I am the world's pre-eminent expert. I love peanut butter. But more importantly for the statement you are about to read here, I know peanut butter. I know peanut butter the way Da Vinci knew fluid mechanics, the way Einstein knew physics, the way Grandmaster Flash knows his way around a turntable, the way Elon Musk knows how to drive people away from a social media platform. And the best natural peanut butter around is Cream-Nut by Koeze. And let me, for a change, add some real value to your life. The trick to not dealing with a pool of oil on the top of your natural peanut butter is to store the jars upside down. 5Extra, ExtraThe Swift and the Barrier: "After 10 months, Swift’s U.S. tour is finished, but so are most of the meaningful reforms consumer advocates and industry groups had hoped to pass this year." Outrage so often dissipates before change happens. After outrage over Taylor Swift tickets, reform has been slow across the US. Meanwhile. Swift just altered the landscape in another economy. Her Eras Tour movie broke presale records in less than three hours. 6Feel Good Friday"The largest crowd to witness a women's sports event filled Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, as 92,003 fans watched the five-time NCAA champion Nebraska volleyball team beat Omaha 3-0." Get a copy of my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store. |