AK-47-type rifles aren't popular in the USA right now

NYT found an American product apparently benefitting from tariffs:

The causes of the firearm’s disappearance include tariffs, sanctions, rising ammunition prices related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the soaring popularity of the AR-15.

The AK’s shape may still be iconic, but its new cost is unappealing to many gun buyers. An AK, or Avtomat Kalashnikova, which cost a couple of hundred dollars in the 1980s, can now go for five times more, and is considered by many to be a boutique item.

...

Overseas firearms manufacturers that supplied AK parts and rifles are now more focused on arming Europeans, fearful of an approaching invasion from Moscow, than on supplying the Americans

Members of the ultra-elite Delta Airlines membership class get ferried around in Porsches to their connecting flights?

Ben Ryder Howe for New York magazine:

Is it true, I ask, that Delta sends a Porsche Cayenne to pick up 360° members and whisk them across the runway to meet a tight connection while the rest of the plane waits to deboard?

“Yes”

...

Is it true, I continue, that before every Delta flight the airline sends him a handwritten welcome card?

“Yes”

...

SkyMiles members are so devoted they barely flinched when Delta did something two years ago other airlines had long wished to but couldn’t: It tweaked the formula of its loyalty program to reward travelers for how much they spent instead of how many miles they traveled. 

...

Last year, Delta reaped 55 percent of the airline industry’s profits despite having only 20 percent of market share. 

(Similarly, I heard speculation this week that the Disney theme park business is somewhat insulated from economic trouble because they've trained their visitors to pay for so many upcharges.) 

"Labubu doll maker Pop Mart’s shares sank nearly 23% on Wednesday"

NYT:

“Labubu’s popularity has been a huge success,” said [] a senior economist at French bank Natixis. “However, there is an emerging concern that there is no second growth driver.”

Related:

Three things missing on Nike collapse.

1. Focus on retro cushed them. Literally embracing a customer growing older.

2. Today’s kid doesn’t get excited about the swoosh. They lost all buzz. My boys would rather GOAT or The Drip Shop.

3. Completely abandoned storytelling. https://t.co/wfI6iiIsVj

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 3, 2026

(I'm always stunned when I see the cost of a Nike clothing item) 

"Telluride is in a pitched battle with the eccentric owner of its luxury resort"

@wallstreetjournal

Telluride, Colo., has descended into what some have called the “ski-gate scandal”: an alleged attempted coup to force resort owner Chuck Horning to sell to investors. The upheaval has involved resignations, a work stoppage and a protest, leaving America’s “most luxurious ski town” in crisis.

♬ original sound - The Wall Street Journal

The WSJ takes a detailed look at the efforts by seemingly everyone living in Telluride, Colorado to oust the owner of the Telluride Ski & Golf resort:

He even fired his own son, Chad, who Horning said led several attempted management coups against him. Chad Horning declined to comment, saying, “This is a highly personal family matter.”

Fun article about the creation of the Rainbow Loom

From 2013:

Ng would work late into the night in the basement of his Detroit home coming up with new patterns in the hopes of impressing his wife. Whenever he'd come up with a new way to weave the rubber bands together, he'd wake her up to show her. "She would wake up at midnight kind of mumbling, "Wow, that's great

...

Ng interviewed five factories in China before ultimately selecting one. "I cannot make any mistakes. I knew that a lot of mistakes can be made, but I cannot afford to lose [the money]. I only have one shot, which is very scary,"

...

The first order of rubber bands arrived in June 2011 and weighed 2,000 pounds, approximately the weight of a mid-size car

"In Dallas, the Stars spent decades turning what was once seen as a community good into a lucrative arm of their for-profit enterprise"

USA Today:

At a time of increasing commercialization of youth sports nationally, hockey is particularly vulnerable to capture by corporate interests.

...

The Stars capitalized on that dynamic by building an ice empire. They convinced seven local municipalities to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars building rinks that the Stars run and profit from. Their ownership group bought up three more. Along the way, at least eight other independent ice hockey rinks went out of business. Now, every level of amateur hockey in North Texas from preschoolers to adults runs through the state’s NHL team. 

...

the Stars impose their will by reminding parents that they can block the pathway for any kid.

Remarkable article. Venomous. One damning sentence after another. 

(There's a tikok too):

@usatoday

Ice is power in the lucrative world of youth hockey. In North Texas, the Dallas Stars control almost all of it. A USA TODAY investigation reveals how a $2 billion NHL team has turned what was once seen as a community good into a lucrative arm of its for-profit enterprise.

♬ original sound - USA TODAY

I enjoyed the movie "Casa Bonita Mi Amor!"

The South Park guys decided to purchase and remodel a Mexican restaurant/mini-theme park in Colorado, and discovered reopening it would be unbelievably, absurdly expensive. It's documented in "Casa Bonita Mi Amor!", which has a surprisingly bittersweet ending.

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People were coaxed into spending millions for the chance to buy a super-limited Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 with a Tiffany blue dial

💎 When Exclusivity Goes Too Far?
Tiffany’s $52K Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 released in signature Tiffany Blue was meant to be a crown jewel.

Instead, it’s sparked backlash from elite clients who spent millions chasing one of just 170 pieces.#PatekPhilippe | #Tiffany pic.twitter.com/JEbSTZmxnM

— FashionBeans (@fashionbeans) July 18, 2025

The Legendary 5711/1A Tiffany Nautilus

If you ever find yourself with $1,500,000 to blow on a watch here are some tips on how to buy this beauty:

1) There are tons of fakes going around around - dealers take a regular 5711 (valued @ 100k) change the dial to the Tiffany one and… pic.twitter.com/tdQmgL12e4

— The Luxury Watch Guy (@LuxuryWatchGuy1) January 22, 2025

One write-up:

To commemorate 170 years of collaboration between the two heritage brands, Patek Philippe produced just 170 timepieces. As demand soared, Tiffany’s leadership—led by Americas head Christopher Kilaniotis—recognized an opportunity: they could prompt clients to spend millions on jewelry for a chance to buy the $52,635 watch.

Salespeople were allegedly encouraged to guide top clients toward purchases worth $2 to $3 million. There was no official waitlist and no guarantees. Just whispers, strategy—and frustration.

....

But what began as a masterstroke of exclusivity has become a cautionary tale—how mishandled scarcity can tarnish brand prestige.

Since the Blue Dial’s launch, Patek Philippe has closed three of its four boutiques inside Tiffany locations.

"Part of the job [running a restaurant] is paying as little and as late as possible"

"I joke that I am not a seafood provider," said ... wholesaler Greenpoint Fish & Lobster. "I'm a source of capital who offers a zero percent interest loan."

From Tuesday's edition of the Dinner Party newsletter, which includes a write-up about the restaurant industry, and also discusses this guy.

"At smoke shops, one finds the least legal legal things, the most legal illegal things, and the illegal things most likely to be legalized in the next five years"

From a blog post about Galaxy Gas.

Good interview with Chris Anderson about why his drone business ultimately failed (and Silicon Valley investing in general)

The best moment is around 56 minutes in when they discuss when they realized they were "screwed"

"Almost 10 million pounds of meat and poultry dishes recalled due to possible listeria contamination"

BrucePac, a Durant, Okla. establishment.  "The recall includes 75 meat and chicken products."

"U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors turned up dozens of violations at a Boar's Head plant in Virginia"

CBS:

The outbreak has grown to 57 hospitalizations in more than a dozen states linked to recalled products from the plant. At least eight deaths have now been reported, including new fatalities linked to the outbreak in recent days from Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and South Carolina.

...

Records released by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request tally 69 records of "noncompliances" flagged by the agency over the past year at the [Virginia] plant.

It's unclear whether Boar's Head will face any penalties by the USDA for the repeat issues. 

Inspiring thread explaining how those Olympic chocolate muffins came to be sold in New York

Key statement: "i've never done anything like this before." Also, "i make my first 3way call. i feel like adam sandler in uncut gems."

Bain Capital and its cheerleading company "agreed to pay $82.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit"

Sportico:

In addition to the financial terms, Varsity Spirit has agreed to do away with certain programs that the plaintiffs alleged harmed market competition. For example, cheerleaders have previously been required to attend Varsity-run cheer camps to be eligible to compete in Varsity’s year-end national championships. Per the settlement, Varsity would no longer make this a requirement.

Similarly, the settlement’s prospective relief would address Varsity’s “Stay Smart” policy that requires cheer teams participating in Varsity events to stay at certain area hotels, which the plaintiffs alleged Varsity received kickbacks from. 

...

[The settlement] comes almost exactly a year after Varsity agreed to pay $43.5 million to settle another antitrust suit

Interview with the author of "Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry,"

From the interview: 

In your book, you focus on the “barons” of various agricultural industries. Why did you decide to structure the book the way you do?

...

I tell the story of JAB Holding Company, which is owned by a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade by gobbling up countless independent companies using wealth traced back to the Nazis. You probably haven’t heard of JAB, but I promise that you’ve heard of their brands: Peet’s Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Einstein Brothers Bagels, Bruegger’s Bagels, Manhattan Bagel, Noah’s NY Bagel, Krispy Kreme, Pret A Manger, Insomnia Cookies, Panera Bread, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Intelligentsia Coffee, Green Mountain Coffee, Trade Coffee, and Keurig. I use their story to talk about changes in American antitrust law and what those changes mean for democracy.

If you want a NBA team to root against, listen to this podcast about "independent" mortgage brokers

On its face, the latest episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out sounds like it's describing what should be deemed blatant, massive fraud by an NBA owner. (The early response has been some finger-pointing by the the main players discussed in the episode.)

This is the in-game NBA moment described at the start of the episode, which really was a remarkable character moment: 

Nineteen MLB teams are "currently projected to open the 2024 season with reduced payrolls"

Front Office Sports:

As spring training games have now begun, a key quartet of star players still have not signed with any team for the 2024 season: reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, World Series hero Jordan Montgomery (above), four-time Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman, and slugger J.D. Martinez. All are represented by prominent agent Scott Boras

A deep dive on the FDIC's first Chief Innovation Officer, asserting that he "fabricated his work history"

Thread starts here.

An investigation into why trucks keep hitting British Columbia overpasses

Vancouver Sun:

“It’s pretty simple. The biggest thing is the pay right now for oversized loads,” says [one driver], who has been hauling large loads for 18 years. “Nobody wants to pay the professional companies who have been doing this for a long time.”

...

There is a flashing-light warning system that detects eastbound overheight trucks on Highway 1 in Langley before one overpass, but it is in the wrong place because it comes after a turnoff that would allow a trucker to exit

...

Six trucks have struck the 264 Street overpass on Highway 1 since Jan. 2022