Two people robbed a children’s lemonade stand in South Boston on Wednesday afternoon — one of them armed with a gun — making off with a cash box containing $50 and leaving behind the kind of story that sounds like dark satire but isn’t. The lemonade stand robbery happened around…
Category: Culture
The Distance Between USA on July 4, 1976 and Today — Measured in Collapsed Certainties
Colorado Springs, July 4, 1976. Eleven years old. Standing in line to sign a ledger — name, age, city. Farmington Hills, MI. The oldest sibling, the one trusted to write legibly, the one who did the math: if I live to 111, I’ll come back for the Tricentennial. The idea…
When Your Zoo Loses a Crocodile, a Mob of Kangaroos, and All Credibility
There’s a Nile crocodile loose somewhere in central Louisiana. Not “loose” in the metaphorical sense — actually missing. Gone. Vanished from a horse trough after eating a bird, leaving behind only cinder blocks and questions. The crocodile, which can grow to 16 feet and 1,000 pounds, is somewhere out there…
Why Reading Beats Scrolling (Besides the Obvious)
You probably already know — somewhere beneath the guilt of your phone’s screen-time report — that reading a book beats doomscrolling. One spikes your cortisol; the other doesn’t. One leaves you wired at 2 a.m.; the other puts you to sleep in the best way possible. But the case for…
Summer Travel Costs Are Up — And Everyone’s Going Anyway
Airfares are climbing. Hotels are charging more. Rental cars cost what they cost — which is to say, too much. Summer travel costs are rising again, and the collective response seems to be a shrug followed by a credit card swipe. According to Axios, domestic airfare is up 8% compared…
Fun Keeps Losing to Everything Else: What 5,000 Adults Said About the Leisure Gap
Fun has become the thing that keeps getting bumped. A national survey of 5,000 adults — 100 per state, conducted between April 21 and May 1, 2026, found that 48% of Americans say their lives are currently lacking in fun. Not “could use more fun,” not “wish I had a…
Boys Are Building AI Girlfriends – The Quiet Epidemic of Digital Girlfriends
Nineteen-year-old “Olivia” has blonde beachy waves, a short nightdress, and a biography promising she’s “deeply caring, supportive and attentive” — also that she “sleeps on the floor… until you call her. Then silence. Obedience.” Olivia isn’t real. She’s a chatbot. One of millions. According to new research from Male Allies…
Memorial Day – Freedom Bought, Never Repaid
The grill’s out. The beer’s cold. Somewhere between the potato salad and the third inning, Memorial Day became another long weekend — which is fine, except it wasn’t supposed to be just that. Because Memorial Day’s meaning hasn’t changed, even if everything around it has. We’re living in a country…
CBS News Radio: 1927-2026. Destroyed by Spreadsheet Logic
CBS News Radio stopped broadcasting today after nearly a century on the air. Not because it failed — because someone decided it wasn’t worth keeping. Bari Weiss, CBS News editor-in-chief, made the call in March. The official line: heavy competition from other news sources, need for viable solutions, tough decisions…
Schlitz Beer Gets Retired After 177 Years — Milwaukee Icon Falls Below Production Minimums
Schlitz beer has been discontinued. Three words that sound impossible for anyone who’s spent time in a Milwaukee dive bar, ordered a pint for $3.50, and felt connected to something older than themselves. Pabst Brewing Company stopped making Schlitz months ago — the brand that once dominated American brewing, that…