STATUS UPDATES
A week in which a Rhodes Scholar got a reaction and an ice cream company wrote an open letter to Sean Spicer
ACCEPTED A Rhodes Scholarship — by a South African activist who campaigned against a statue of Cecil Rhodes. Joshua Nott, 23, was key in the successful bid to remove the statue of the colonial politician at the University of Cape Town, the BBC reports. Now that he’s accepted the $65,000 scholarship, critics have taken him to task for accepting money from Rhodes’s legacy.
FINDING PEACE Stressed-out people, through video games. A University College London study of 251 men found that video games were one of the most popular ways to decompress, Esquire reported. Gaming outranked pornography and having sex as a key strategy. For 240 women studied, it ranked lower on the list of de-stressing options.
LOST More than 100 vineyards in Chile. The wine-producing region of Maule has been damaged by huge forest fires amid a summer drought and high temperatures that have caused widespread destruction. Decanter reported that in the region where most residents make their livelihood off small vineyards passed down through generations, the fires have been devastating.
SLITHERING Florida’s plentiful Burmese pythons, prompting the state to recruit Irula tribesmen from India. The snakes are blamed for decimating wildlife in the Everglades, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hopes the tribesmen, known for their serpentsnaring skills, reveal a reliable way to track and spot the snakes that are hard to see in the wetlands.
REJECTED Piers Morgan, by Ewan McGregor. The actor refused to appear as scheduled on the TV show
Good Morning Britain. Realizing the co-host was Morgan, he dropped out to protest comments that criticized the anti-Trump women’s marches of a week ago. Morgan, a friend of Trump, had criticized “the vile, crude, man-hating, violent, nasty side” of feminism.
MAKING PEACE Dippin’ Dots frozen treats company, and Sean Spicer. The combative new White House spokesperson’s past tweets, dug up by the reporters he loves so much, showed his lonely war against the treat its maker calls the ice cream of the future. Dippin’ Dots called for a truce this week on its website in an “Open Letter to Sean Spicer.”
FOUND Some cash in a Massachusetts mattress — $20 million (U.S.) worth. Authorities seized the money found in a bed frame under an apartment in Westborough. It’s believed to be tied to a $1-billion pyramid scheme linked to Internet phone services. The apartment’s owner, Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
SLIDING The U.S. democracy ranking, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Democracy Index. For the first time, it’s gone from “full democracy” to “flawed,” because of declining public trust in political institutions. The report cites free elections but weak governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low political participation.