How is everyone’s weekend going? Another terrific weather weekend as autumn arrives.
A week ago in this space I wrote about the importance of diligence in pushing back against continued overreach in schools. Ideally, that push back would come from those most impacted - students.
We saw some of that opposition this week.
This letter (notice the mock “From Dr. Fauci” address) from a student at Lyons Township High School in Western Springs, IL, could be just the catalyst needed for a more widespread movement.
I’ll have more on this story this coming week in TKR, but as we’ve found so often throughout Covid and history, all it takes is one insurgent.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
Student Newspaper Editor Resigns After Op-Ed Opposing Masks.
This really got my blood boiling when I saw this story just a few days ago. The editor of the student newspaper at Oklahoma State University wrote an editorial arguing against mask wearing on campus. Predictably, there was blowback on her “controversial” opinion (remember, the article was an editorial). Rather than defend the student’s right to express her opinion, the newspaper forced her to resign. A complete failure in leadership from the adults in the room (not that many apparently) and absolute assault on the First Amendment.
Billionaire Building A City From Scratch In Western USA.
Seemingly borrowed from an Arthur C. Clarke science fiction novel, is it possible to build a city from scratch? A billionaire named Marc Lore is going to try. Lore’s plan is to construct, within 40 years, a “fully-contained city which will be extended over 150,000 acres and have a population of five million.” The location is not Mars but in the desert west of the United States. Early design photos are out and published in this article in Timeout.
When A Minivan Becomes A Music Machine.
So this is the most fun story I read all week. From the NY Times, it takes a look at Dominican car culture in New York City. Amazing photographs that literally show old minivans that Dominican folks transform into boom boxes on wheels. A cool, breezy read that takes a snapshot of a mono-culture within a major city.
Get A Tattoo, Get Free Mexican Food For Life.
Just over two decades ago, a restaurant in the Bay Area sponsored a promotion. Pretty simple and straight forward - “Get a tattoo of the restaurant’s pitch man, Jimmy The Corn Man, and get free tacos for life.” The owner of the restaurant thought the promotion over time could cost the restaurant millions in dollars in free tacos and other Mexican food. SF Gate catches up with a few of the people who got inked up in 1999 and asks how the tattoo (and free food) changed their life. A really well-executed enterprise story idea by this reporter and newspaper.
Oldest Evidence To Date of Human Origins In The Americas.
Another story that originates in the western part of the country, although this is not fantastical, but real. For decades, researchers believed the first signs of humans in North American was probably 16,000 years ago. A recent discovery is changing that opinion. Somewhere in New Mexico a research team found footprints that now indicate that human life began 7,000 years earlier than expected. The BBC has words and pictures of the discovered footprints.
A Sneak Peak At The Next Season of “Ozark.”
One of the shows I binge-watched out the outset of Covid was “Ozark.” All 30 episodes in about one weekend (I got slightly hooked yup…but no one could go anywhere in late March 2020). Fast-forward 18 months, and the newest piece of video for the show’s final seasons (they are splitting it into two mini-seasons) is out. It’s just a 90-second trailer but it appears the show will pick off right where it ended in episode 30. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for Marty and Wendy Byrd and the assortment of wackos set in the Lake of the Ozarks (but filmed in Georgia).
Have a great rest of your holiday weekend everybody. Thanks for reading as always.
Have a suggestion for the Sunday Six? Send email to jon@jonjkerr.com