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The Independent Variable

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The Independent Variable

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🆕 So many ".new" options

tech
.new - Google Registry
Browse the full list of .new shortcuts available today from Adobe, Spotify, and many more.
Whats.New

I have long been a frequent user of "docs.new" to quickly create new Google Docs. TIL that there are far more '.new' style "action domains" that work in this way. This list of all of the .new shortcuts is super useful – even if .new first rolled out to non-Google entities way back in 2020.

Some of these feel a bit spammy ("New casino blog") and a good number don't work as of this writing but there are some useful gems like "zip.new" to be found.

🤞 I hope you find something new and useful here!

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🍷 The Michelin Guide is coming for wine. Here’s what it means

https://apple.news/A2kZusNhKQrWc9lx7_bnBeQ wine
Although Michelin has positioned its inspectors’ anonymity as a key component of its process in evaluating restaurants and hotels, the wine inspectors’ visits will not be anonymous.

I find the Michelin Guide to be absolutely fascinating—and their move into wine isn’t surprising. It’ll be interesting to see how their approach actually works in implementation and how it affects the Napa Valley, when they inevitably make their way out here.

⚽️ America is now the biggest market for international football

https://economist.com/the-world-ahead/2025/11/12/america-is-now-the-biggest-market-for-international-football sports
Football still struggles in America, though. MLS remains a dull watch, despite its sprinkling of foreign mega-stars such as Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami.

Not surprising that a country with one of the highest populations is now the biggest market for the world’s most popular sport. Nor is it surprisingly that MLS is still an awful watch. The only way that ever changes is if they start paying Saudi type money to get players in their prime in an attempt to make MLS a real competitor to the Premier League and La Liga.

🔬 The Undermining of the C.D.C.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/08/the-undermining-of-the-cdc politics
Since Trump returned to office his Administration has fired or muzzled government scientists with disfavored views on nutrition and climate change; cancelled funding for long-running surveys on food insecurity and global health; dismissed independent committees focussed on air pollution, health-care disparities, and hospital infections; and pulled support for research into vaccines.

The list of things that has devastating real world impact on millions of real Americans goes on and on and on and on. And for what?

🏥 A Battle with My Blood

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/a-battle-with-my-blood health
Maybe my brain is replaying my life now because I have a terminal diagnosis, and all these memories will be lost. Maybe it’s because I don’t have much time to make new ones, and some part of me is sifting through the sands.

A pretty devastating personal reflection on leukemia from Tatiana Schlossberg—and how her cousin, RFK Jr. is decimating the healthcare system and pulling funding for research into many of the drugs she has or could’ve used during her fight with cancer.

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