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Apparently, many people in the tech industry are starting to wonder if they really do need to be better prepared for the possibility that some of today's economic and political battles will move from the tweets to the streets. The New Yorker's Evan Osnos tracks the trend: Doomsday Prep For The Super-Rich. My favorite line comes from Marvin Liao who explained to Osnos that just having food and water won't be enough: "'What if someone comes and takes this?'" he asked me. To protect his wife and daughter, he said, 'I don't have guns, but I have a lot of other weaponry. I took classes in archery.'"
Before you put all your money into urban high rises, artisanal brews, and beard-trimmer manufacturers, you should take a look at a demographic trend pointed out by the NYT: We may have reached Peak Millennial. (Soon they'll all Uber out of the cities and into the suburbs where everyone is pretending they're young enough to be millennials.)
+ Here's what it's actually like to flee the city and become a farmer.
"We informed the White House this morning that I will not attend the work meeting scheduled for next Tuesday." That was Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto letting the world know he had canceled his planned trip to the US over Trump's insistence on building a wall, and further insistence that Mexico will pay for it. The message was delivered via a tweet, and was (of course) met with counter-tweets from the Oval Office. Social media spats and flame wars now have serious diplomatic ramifications. What were once harmless exchanges between a couple of bad hombres can now cause geopolitical shifts. (Sometimes I think the whole Trump presidency is part of a secret plot to save Twitter.)
+ "If we're going to be spending on things like infrastructure, we're going to find the fiscal space to pay for that." Paul Ryan says Congress will pay for the wall. Is the who will pay for it? discussion squelching out the broader question: Do we want or need a wall? (Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants from Mexico are way down.)
President Trump's first sit-down TV interview with David Muir of ABC resulted in a lot of headlines and head-scratching. First on the list of controversial statements was Trump's belief in the effectiveness of torture: "I have spoken as recently as 24 hours ago with people at the highest level of intelligence. And I asked them the question, Does it work? Does torture work? And the answer was, Yes, absolutely."
+ Is blocking refugees and considering the use of torture a solid strategy? From Robin Wright in The New Yorker: How To Lose The War On Terror: "Jihadi movements---the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and dozens of smaller groups---will almost certainly exploit the move as proof that the West is at war with world's 1.7 billion Muslims."
+ Quartz: Trump plans to block visas from seven Muslim-majority countries. The US is currently bombing five of them.
Mary Tyler Moore was a funny, talented actor who absolutely changed television and had a huge impact on the way Americans viewed a single woman in the workforce. And that hat being thrown in the air ... one of TV's most iconic moments. From the NYT: Mary Tyler Moore, Who Incarnated the Modern Woman on TV, Dies at 80.
+ NPR: She Turned The World On With Her Smile. In addition to her comedic roles, she was also unbelievably good in Ordinary People.
"The potential to positively impact attitudes with digital games is not only rooted in their ability to grant perspective, but also in their potency as instruments of persuasion." From Polygon: Here's why the UN is getting interested in videogames.
"It's neighbors meeting face-to-face and coordinating plans to put their values out there. It's pretty powerful stuff. Here in Montana, we might not have much say nationally. But we can make Whitefish a better town. And if we do that all around the country, I think the national narrative can change." Andrew Romano with a very interesting look at how the town of Whitefish defeated its neo-Nazi trolls -- and became a national model of resistance.
+ Only somewhat related: The gross reason you'll be paying a lot more for salmon this year.
"I had nothing against Dr. Chopra. I just found it surprising that moments before the dry run now underway, this beacon of enlightenment, a man supposedly above the trivialities of ego and self-doubt, had asked Bree if the khakis he was wearing made him look fat." From Vox: I was a self-help guru. Here's why you shouldn't listen to people like me.
The top soccer scouts no longer wait for games featuring the most promising teen players. They are visiting training sessions featuring kids as young as eight years old. And I'm not talking about the scouts working for teams. I'm talking about the scouts working for Nike and Adidas.
We're often told that the safest place to keep our money is in our mattress. Well, how much money can one really store there? According to a recent bust, at least $20 million. Now that's my kind of sleep number!
+ The verdict is in. Jade eggs should be kept out of your vagina.
+ "Two and a half packs by noon. I talked to my doctor about it, he said it's no problem." You know that thing about it taking seven years for swallowed gum to get through your system. Well, it's fake news. Sean Spicer says he swallows more than 2 packs of gum daily.
+ This is why I stick to the bunny hills.
This is a weekly best-of version of the NextDraft newsletter. For daily updates and to get the NextDraft app, go here. (Original story reprinted with permission from NextDraft.)
