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. 2Delayed 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. 3Take 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. 4I 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.) 5Extra, ExtraShe 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. 6Bottom 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.) Get a copy of my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store.
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