For millions of Americans, student debt is about to be ridden out of town. In a much anticipated (and hotly debated) move, President Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plan. "Borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year, or families earning less than $250,000, would be eligible for the $10,000 loan forgiveness ... For recipients of Pell Grants, which are reserved for undergraduates with the most significant financial need, the federal government would cancel up to an additional $10,000 in federal loan debt." (Pell grants you news for free every day!) For those former students who didn't major in econ, this plan means that the federal student of debt of about 20 million people would be completely erased and as many as 25 million more will see their burden reduced. The big question is how those not in that group will react to the move. Some will celebrate the cut in overhead. Others will bitch and loan about the lack of fairness. Even Biden was hesitant at first. Mitch McConnell channelled the GOP response calling the move a 'slap in the face,' for working American families. I always say, if you're gonna slap me in the face, do it with $10K.
+ Dinosaur tracks from 113 million years ago uncovered due to severe drought conditions. (Something tells me that people who deny climate change probably don't believe in dinosaurs.)
"An Italian artist who attached a banana to a wall with duct tape and titled it Comedian – reportedly selling several versions for more than $100,000." That's not the part that's bananas. He's now being sued by another artist who says he was the first person to duct tape a banana to a wall. Everyone wants to be top banana. I'd pay $100,000 to watch the judge tape the lawsuit to the courtroom wall.
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EXTRA, EXTRA
Putin His Place?: "The invasion has already backfired on Russia, and its remaining battlefield efforts are focused on making the most out of a bad situation — to make sufficient gains that it could sell the war as a win to its population and the world. But just because the war has been bad for Russia doesn't mean that it's a victory for Ukraine." We're six months into Putin's murderous mayhem. How do we know who's winning in Ukraine? And from Vanity Fair: Holding Russia to Account for War Crimes in Ukraine. "First, you encounter an individual case. Next, you see similar cases stretched across a town, then a region, then a country. In time, you begin to see patterns in the atrocities, and you start to understand that the intent had been to deliberately erase a population and destroy its identity."
+ Living in a Simulation: "The amount of young adults who said in 2021 that they used marijuana in the past year (43%), the past month (29%) or daily (11%) were at the highest levels ever recorded." Young adults are using marijuana and hallucinogens at the highest rates on record. (Watching democracy and the planet die is a decent reason to want to hallucinate.)
+ Charge! "California's stance on new car sales is extremely consequential given the state's status as a standard bearer for clean air regulations ... California is also one of the largest markets for car sales in the world, with nearly 15 million registered vehicles on the road and 1.85 million new vehicle registrations in 2021." And the state is prepared to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles starting in 2035.
+ Cloud Computing: "If the solar system were full of soup out to Jupiter, things might be okay for some people for a few minutes. Then, for the next half hour, things would definitely not be okay for anyone. After that, time as we know it would end." Ask an absurd question, and xkcd's Randall Munroe will give you a (somewhat) serious answer. Among the questions: What If You Tried to Swallow a Whole Cloud? (I live in the hills of Sausalito. I probably swallow three a day.)
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BOTTOM OF THE NEWS
"Chess is merciless and nasty. The image of tweedy professors and genteel clergymen playing friendly chess while sipping snifters of brandy is deceptive. Chess is the one place where those guys have the opportunity to kick somebody's ass and get away with it." Why Competitive Chess Is as Vicious as 10 Rounds in a Boxing Ring.
+ All nine passengers and crew members were rescued but, man, watching this yacht sink is something.
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With August winding down, we're barreling straight into Labor Day Weekend, so it's perfect timing for our latest Eat Sheet destination dining guide—Newport, Rhode Island.
This famed summer resort is my hometown and I'm always being asked where one should eat—now I can just send this! To be frank, Newport wasn't always a culinary standout, but the folks running the various spots listed here will keep you well-fed and happy.
A couple of months ago I was having drinks in Paris with a good friend who works on projects related to diversity over there. He told me about a fascinating tour, one that Americans taking it would know just as much as the Parisians in the group. Called "Paris Noir," the tour focuses on the history of Paris as told through its most prominent Black citizens. Peter Yeung tagged along and wrote about the experience.
I live for the days when I open my inbox and see a freelancer pitch that's so Beast-y I don't have to think twice. Such was the case with Alex Temblador's pitch about how a statue of a sex worker became a prominent attraction in a city famous because of a Catholic conference that took place there 600 years ago!
Palm Springs, California (Vrbo): We've seen some pretty spectacular homes in our day, but this one might just take the top prize. According to our proprietary rating system, it officially qualifies as "outrageously tricked out." The property has staycation opportunities while you're on your vacation; it has fire pits for its fire pits; it has more activities to choose from than a trip to Burning Man. If you get bored here, you are forever and always a lost cause.
We like to start every vacation by telling the property manager, "Good luck getting us to leave!" just to scare them a little. In this case, we're being serious…
Don't miss previous OMG, I Want to Rent This House posts, which spotlight the most spectacular and unique homes that you can actually stay in. Check out the full archives.
Travel to Europe's Most Eclectic Rooms
We've featured a number of tomes here at Just Booked (our series on gorgeous travel coffee table books) that took us inside fabulous rooms. But we're not sure any of them ever took us in rooms as awe-inspiring and eclectic as those in our latest selection—Massimo Listri's Cabinet of Curiosities, published recently by Taschen.
The book is filled with the fame photographer's detailed and engrossing photographs of some of Europe's most exciting cabinets of curiosity—rooms where the most acquisitive individuals accumulated and displayed a variety of objects. They can be filled with art, decorative objects, items from nature (you will see a lot of coral), inventions, and just downright strange things.
Don't miss our other selections for our series on gorgeous travel-related coffee table books, Just Booked.
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