There seems to be quite a bit of chatter about the end of times in the news. Yesterday, I wrote about Peter Thiel hosting a four-day event on the Apocalypse. Then, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that one in three Americans believes the…
Category: Culture
Animals
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Argentine Teens Are Identifying as Dogs — And TikTok Made It Go Viral
A Buenos Aires plaza turned into an impromptu wildlife preserve last Sunday. Teenagers in lifelike animal masks ran on all fours across the grass. A 15-year-old named Aguara — who identifies as a Belgian Malinois and counts her age in dog years — leapt through an obstacle course. Others dressed…
Culture
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ALIEN ABDUCTION? Pentagon UFO Boss VANISHES Near Area 51’s Backyard
Retired Air Force Major General John Bourke — former Pentagon UFO investigator — disappeared in New Mexico last week. The authorities’ response? Ask hundreds of locals to voluntarily hand over their home security footage. Not a warrant. Not a subpoena. Just a polite request that you become an unpaid investigator…
Culture
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Two Doomsday Fish Washed Ashore in Mexico—And We’re All Pretending That’s Fine
The Doomsday fish sighting came in late February. Not one—two. Both alive. Both flapping like 30-foot silver ribbons on a Cabo San Lucas beach while American tourists stood around trying to figure out what the hell they were looking at. Monica Pittenger and her sister Katie were the ones who…
Culture
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We’re the Only Country Where More People Think Their Countrymen Are Immoral
Americans Think Their Neighbors Are Trash — And We’re the Only Country That Does Pew Research surveyed 25 countries and asked people to rate the morality of their fellow citizens. In 24 of them, optimism won. More people said their compatriots had good morals than bad ones. Then there’s us….
Culture
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France Just Knighted Its Last Newspaper Hawker — And With Him Goes an Entire Era
Ali Akbar has been selling newspapers on the streets of Paris for 50 years. Seven days a week. Ten hours a day. Rain or shine. On a secondhand bicycle, weaving between cafés in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, shouting “Ça y est!” — his signature catchphrase meaning “That’s it!” Last month, French President Emmanuel…
Business
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Before Chatbots, Customer Service Followed These Eleven Unwritten Rules
Before apps, chatbots, and self-checkout lanes, American customer service followed a quiet code. These unwritten rules shaped how stores, diners, hotels, and service counters operated for decades — and most of them weren’t posted on walls or included in training manuals. Customers expected them anyway. The principles that made old-school…
Culture
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The PSL Scale Turned Teenage Insecurity Into a Spreadsheet — And Nobody’s Winning
I would not like to be a kid right now. It was hard enough growing up and trying to make your way. Judging and being judged are part of it, but what I found out this week, aw man, I don’t know how these kids survive. I found out about…
Culture
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We Lost the Bars and Bowling Leagues — Then Blamed People for Being Lonely
The U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health crisis — associated with depression, cardiovascular disease, even increased mortality risk — and the advice rolled out like clockwork: join a gym, download a friend app, try harder. As though the problem is you. As though fifty years of dismantled civic…
Business
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UK Chocolate Shoplifting Costs £408M — So Now You Need Permission to Buy a Creme Egg
British Supermarkets Lock Up Chocolate — Because Crime Gangs Love Ferrero Rocher The chocolate shoplifting situation in the UK has escalated to the point where Tesco and Sainsbury’s are installing anti-theft barriers on candy bars. Not razors. Not baby formula. Chocolate. Sainsbury’s confirmed it’s using security boxes on “regularly targeted”…