Did you see that thing about...?
Low-power mode, but a different kind. Also... well, you'll see in a minute.
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Did you see that thing about … ?
Here’s my review of Covid: Zero stars! Do not recommend!
I’m doing better and thanks again (truly!) for everyone’s continued well-wishes. Hopefully next week we’ll be back to normal. (I do have to admit that if I had to get it, this was probably the least inconvenient time.)
In the meantime, I thought I’d do an “opposite low-power mode,” which means no big essay at the top today, but a whole bunch of “other things.” Share your own in the comments, too!
A bunch of other things worth knowing today:
A steady stream of mourners began the second day of paying respects to Queen Elizabeth II, who is lying in state in Westminster Hall. The line now runs more than five miles long, with people taking as long as 10 hours or more to reach the Queen's casket. (USA Today)
Freight rail companies and unions representing tens of thousands of workers reached a tentative agreement to avoid what could have been an economically devastating strike. There’s a whole lot of inside baseball on this if you’re interested, including a marathon 20-hour final negotiating session at the end spurred by the White House. Basically, this looks like a major crisis averted. (NYT)
Dramatic video shows a Chick-fil-A employee tackling a man who allegedly tried to carjack a woman with a baby. The suspect, identified as William Branch, was arrested by authorities in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. (CBS News)
Seven years ago, Brad Ryan was stunned when his grandmother, Joy Ryan, who he knew was deeply fond of nature — told him she’d never seen a mountain in person. This is just a nice story about how he's gone on a mission to visit 63 U.S. national parks together as a result. (Washington Post, gift link)
A 118-year-old Chicago license plate (back when cities rather than states issued them, apparently) and numbered "1" sold at auction for $34,000. "Only (a) handful of these were made," said Mike Donley of Donley Auctions. "And it's number 1. It doesn't get any lower than that." (Auction Zip, NPR)
The White House denounced transports of Latin and South American migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Washington, D.C., by Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, while DeSantis’s rival for the governorship called for him to be investigated by the Department of Justice. I understand why Texas and Florida are doing this, but I don't see what they'd lose by at least saying they're doing it ahead of time, so humanitarian groups can be on hand to meet the migrants. (Yahoo News, WCVB TV)
A half century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away. Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard and his family have transferred their $3 billion ownership a trust and a nonprofit organization dedicated to combatting climate change and protecting undeveloped land around the globe. (NYT)
A Los Angeles Times copy editor passed away after a brief and sudden illness at age 65. Henry Fuhrmann was a "self-described word nerd," and he’s remembered for his one-man campaign to remove the use of "hyphenated Americans" from newspaper copy, arguing that referring to someone in a story as an "African-American" or "Asian-American" (Fuhrmann was Asian) "connote[s] an otherness, a sense that people of color are somehow not full citizens or fully American.” He prevailed when the Associated Press stylebook adopted his proposal in 2015. (LA Times)
Nearly 300 South Korean adoptees in Europe and the United States have filed applications calling for South Korea’s government to investigate the circumstances surrounding their adoptions, which they suspect were based on falsified documents that laundered their real status or identities. (AP)
A man who may have been keeping a wild kangaroo as a pet was killed by the animal in southwest Australia, police said. It was reportedly the first fatal attack by a kangaroo in Australia since 1936. (AP)
Sean Kelly, a wry master of literary and musical parodies who helped infuse National Lampoon with the sharp-edged and often crude humor it became known for, died in July in Manhattan at age 81, according to his obituary in the NYT. Apparently Mr. Kelly was a distant cousin of mine, although we never met: my grandfather and his father were first cousins, for anyone who would like to calculate that for me. (NYT, gift article)
Mark David Chapman, 67, who murdered John Lennon, was denied parole from his 20 years to life sentence for a 12th time. Transcripts aren't yet available, but in past hearings, Chapman called his actions “despicable” and said he would have “no complaint whatsoever” if the board chose to leave him in prison for the rest of his life. (NBC News)
What's next for King Charles III and the Commonwealth countries. I know this is an enormous topic, but it's basically about which of the 56 countries in the Commonwealth are considered most likely to break away from the monarchy, and which won't. (Axios)
The mystery behind the crime wave at 312 Riverside Drive. I'll just give you the end of the story, since it's all in the telling: there is no such place as 312 Riverside Drive, but a man with mental illness has made thousands of 911 calls in NYC over the years asking for help at the fictitious address. (NYT, gift article)
Thing I had never heard of, but oh my God: video from 1986 of Canadian inventor Troy Hurtubise testing his armored "grizzly bear protection suit."
Thanks for reading. Wash your hands. (Still!) Photo credit: Unsplash. Have a great weekend, and see you in the comments!
The tens of thousands of The Queen's bees have been told of her death. John Chapple, the 79-year-old official Palace beekeeper, placed black ribbons around the hives, He also explained that King Charles III is now their new master, and that he will be good to them. “You knock on each hive and say, ‘The mistress is dead, but don’t you go. Your master will be a good master to you.’”
The centuries-old tradition of “telling the bees” comes from a superstition that if bees are not informed of their master’s death, they will stop producing honey or die or leave. It is believed the custom has Celtic roots, and continues through folklore in England, Wales, Ireland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Germany, and parts of the United States.
Bees are also informed about births and marriages. I am fascinated by this. How sweet it is!
https://www.beeculture.com/telling-the-bees
I'm hitting the like button on the field of tulips photo.
I'm not making a political comment, but does it seem like justice when Mark Chapman remains in prison ( which he should) while John Hinckley Jr has been released with no further court restrictions?